The Golden Haunt
by Lairoflight
Summary: Piltover is on the brink of war as the conflict between it and Zaun intensifies. Its fate rests in the hands of one girl, who must battle both enemies and herself in the fight for peace. [Rated T because I have some more "strong" things I have planned.][Sending thanks to Oceanbourne for the review, they really helped ][Updated chapters: 1]
1. The First Day

_The sound of children talking and laughing filled the room. Teachers stood around at the sides, watching the kids and discussing their own matters. All was good._

 _A quiet gagging noise entered the din of the cafeteria. Not a single head was turned, not a single person cared. It faded away, and a wailing cry took its place._

Streetlights blinked off one by one as the night faded away from the Piltover skies. The tall buildings emerged from the shadows and into the light. People began filling the streets of snow one at a time, as they awoke from their sleep.

In Suite 702 of Building 14 of Residential Area C, a clock began to beep, signaling 7 AM. A hand shot out from the bed as it wandered its way to the snooze button. Urie sat up, still not completely aware of the morning. Her head was ringing with a dull pain, but she did her best to ignore it. Sliding her feet into her slippers, she walked to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Her lavender hair was a mess, and reached for the brush.

She missed it and knocked it to the floor.

Urie sighed as she reached down, picking up the brush. She ran it under the faucet briefly before running it through her hair. This usually took around three minutes, since her hair was too long to get it all in one move.

Barking noises emerged as a large dog sauntered into the bathroom, tail wagging. She smiled and bent down.

"Good morning, George." She had named it George since she couldn't think of a good name, and she heard the name George being mentioned nearby when she first got her dog. He was always around since then, and he was the only constant in her life.

Once she finished brushing her hair and her teeth, she returned to her bedroom. Looking outside the window, she saw the snow on the street, people strolling along.

The closet automatically selected her clothes for her, giving her various options, all suitable for the cold weather. The Residential Areas had technologically advanced homes, almost everything automatic to offer more convenience. Very affordable homes, too.

She found a green coat with two purple stripes and buttons, along with matching boots. She set it on the bed, since she couldn't go out in just a coat and boots. Urie found a short lavender dress, with a dark purple leggings. Once she had completed her outfit, she turned to start getting to work. She stopped. Urie pulled out a lavender scarf, white gloves, and a hat matching her coat and boots.

It was cold outside. She didn't like the cold.

She also liked any kind of purple.

The door automatically locked behind her, with George beside her. As she entered the elevator, she had to swing by the fifth floor real quick. She knocked on Suite 506.

After a brief moment, the door opened to show a middle aged woman. She smiled as she bent down to pet George.

"Thanks again, Hora."

Hora watched over and took care of George while Urie was at work. They didn't allow dogs at the Sheriff's office, unfortunately enough.

After saying her farewells to Hora and George, she returned to the elevator. Quiet music played through the hidden speakers, acting as some sort of white noise to fill up the otherwise silent elevator. After stopping at the third floor to pick up an elderly gentleman, the elevator dinged open at the ground floor.

As Urie walked out the sliding doors of the building, the cold air greeted her. She pulled the scarf up, readjusted her pack, tucked her gloved hands into her coat pockets, and began to walk.

Some ten minutes later, she stopped in front of a small store with a sign that read "The Brew Crew". Every morning since she got her job 2 years ago, she stopped by here every weekday on her was to work, and picked up the same medium-sized latte from the same barista. And she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

She walked in, a chime ringing as it alerted the people within of her presence. Four people formed a line before her, and she got in line behind them, watching the TV screen built into the wall while waiting, as it played the morning news. Apparently, this year's annual holiday event at the Explorer's Square would be "nothing like the years before"(!).

Another seven or eight minutes later, she had reached the counter. The girl with long hair and wide, blue eyes smiled at her, as she did very morning since two years ago, except for when she was sick three months ago.

"Hey, Alba."

"Hi, Urie. Let me guess, medium-sized latte with a little extra sugar?"

"You know it."

Alba walked to the machine in the back, and came back a minute later with her drink, mixed a touch of sugar into it, the capped it and handed it to Urie. "40 gold."

Urie already had placed the coins onto the counter, and Alba took them without even counting. "Well, you gotta get to work. So, toodles."

"Toodles." She took a quick drink and walked out the door.

She walked up a nearby staircase, which led to a small platform about 15 feet above the sidewalk, which acted as a stop for the Piltover monorail. Another five minutes later, the monorail arrived and Urie stepped in.

The train was bustling with busy people, all hustling to get to their worksite. The door closed behind her, and the train jerked as it began to move again.

On a screen built into the walls of the monorail, the blonde weatherwoman was talking about more snow to arrive overnight. "And signing off for today, this has been Janna. Back to you, Cyrus."

The train decelerated to a gradual stop, and she stepped off. The stairs led down to another sidewalk, and Urie began to walk again. After a short distance, she stopped in front of a pair of grand, wooden doors, with a sign above reading "SHERIFF'S OFFICE" in golden letters. She stepped in.

The clock above the reception desk read 7:56, giving her four minutes before the office officially opened to the public. She sat behind the desk, took her hat and gloves off, and turned the computer on. The screen blinked on, and she waited.

A lot of her job was around waiting. She had to schedule appointments for the sheriffwhenever one was necessary, she had to make copies and whatnot when it was necessary, she had to answer calls and emails when it was necessary. When nothing was necessary, Urie simply sat around, looking up things to occupy her time on the computer, making sure the sheriff never saw that she was doing something else.

Few minutes later, the door swung open to allow a tall, black haired woman to enter.

"Good morning, Urie." The woman greeted her, speaking with a slight accent.

"Morning, Ms. Caitlyn." You always addressed the sheriff with a title of some degree. And that was respect.

Caitlyn walked up the stairs and disappeared from view, and a door opening and closing in the background.

And so the sitting around began. Hours passed, and Urie got two calls and two emails to reply to. Nothing more. As 1:00 rolled around, the phone rang. And as she did two times earlier today, she answered it.

"Sheriff's office, this is Urie. How can I help?"

"Could I talk to Sheriff Caitlyn?"

Urie checked a small chart stapled to the wall, which was the schedule Caitlyn left on her desk every morning. "I'm sorry, she's in a meeting currently. If you leave me the message, then I can pass it along to her."

"Well, a package has arrived for her."

She wrote it down. "And where is this package to be picked up from?"

"The Greenhouse."

Another scribble. "Great. I'll pass it along to Ms. Caitlyn soon."

"Thank you."

"Have a nice day."

"You too."

The caller hung up.

And besides that, nothing interesting happened. 5:30 creeped its way to the office, and footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs as Caitlyn walked down. Urie had forgot about the package.

"Oh, um, Ms. Caitlyn?"

Caitlyn turned around to look at her.

"There was a call earlier today about a package at the Greenhouse for you."

A new expression came over Caitlyn's face, maybe relief? Maybe exasperation? Tiredness?

"Alright. Thank you, Urie. Have a good evening."

"You too, Ms. Caitlyn."

As the sheriff walked out the door, a young man walked down the stairs. He was one of the many intern/assistants at the office.

"Hey, Urie."

"Hey."

"We're going out for a drink after we lock this place up. Wanna come?"

"Can't. I promised I would watch over my neighbor's kid tonight."

"Alright. See you around then."

"See ya."

Urie shut the computer down, cleaned her desk up, and stood up. Her bag and gloves went back on, and she walked out the door. The assistants would lock the place up.

She, in fact, didn't have to watch over a neighbor's kid. Hell, she didn't even know if her neighbor had a kid. She didn't like to go out for drinks, and she had a very low alcohol tolerance to boot. She wasn't feeling like getting hung over the next morning.

Urie took the same exact route in reverse to get home, swinging by Hora's quickly to pick up George before closing the door to her own suite shut. As the door locked itself shut behind her, the lights blinked on, and, as she did normally, she sat on the couch with George on her lap and turned the TV on. Dinner cooked itself, thanks to the miracle that was the automated homes.

The TV played holiday specials through and through every channel, a cartoon here and there. She let the TV play a special as she got up as George slinked onto the floor. Urie walked to the window, looking at the lights of Piltover's nightlife blink alive, one at a time. She wasn't a big fan of going out at night. It was too hectic and loud, and the one time she went out, she got her bag stolen.

A bell rung as the kitchen indicated dinner had finished. So Urie ate.

8:30. Because today was a relatively dull day, she had finished everything earlier than usual. She sat back down in front of the TV, flipped channels onto a cartoon, and began to flip through her mail.

While it was mostly junk mail, she still had a package she received earlier that day. After struggling for quite a bit, Urie peeled the tape holding the box shut. She opened it up, and it held a small, wrapped object. Once the wrapping was taken off and strewn across the floor, it revealed itself to be a pristine fork.

But she hadn't ordered a fork. Frowning, she picked the scraps of paper on the floor, and the the delivery tag read "Residential Area C, Building 14, Suite 703"'.

"Oh".

So Urie dug around the house for some new paper to wrap the fork back up and put it back inside the box. She taped it shut once more, taped the delivery tag back on, and placed it down on her table. As long as her neighbor didn't ask for that precise wrapping, they would have no idea Urie had got her hands on it. Time to put her plan in action.

She walked out of her suite, and rung the doorbell to Suite 703. After a minute, a middle-aged woman opened the door. Urie handed the box over, the woman thanked her, and it was all good. Only Urie would know.

Despite all that happened since she got home, she had completely forgot to dress into something comfortable. And so she entered her room, and switched out to her pajamas. He wasn't planning on sleeping soon, but she didn't want the hassle of trying to change while she was more tired.

Pulling a blanket from the bed to the couch, she leaned sideways on the couch, George sleeping at her feet. The TV played more cartoons, and Urie watched more of them. As the clock ticked on, Urie's eyes slowly began to slide shut, and the animated noises of the TV filled the house as the night grew darker.

 _The beeping noise persisted as they panicked inside the dark elevator. The woman on the floor was in pain, her husband beside her, calming her down tto the best of his abilities. A older woman was sitting behind the hurting woman. There were strange glances towards a figures huddled in the corner. Not long after, the woman's cries of pain turned to tears, and the elevator was nearly silent._

 _"It's dead."_

The suite was quiet as the morning arrived. The TV had powered off, and Urie was still sleeping. The only noise was George breathing, as he was lost in his own doggy dreams.

Her eyes slid open slowly as she adjusted to the soft lighting inside the suite. Urie's hair was, believe or not, still organized and only in need of a light brushing. But what surprised her the most was when she noticed she was covered in cold sweat, her hands strangely slippery.

She sat up, stretching. The clock read 10:36, still relatively early in the day. Urie wasn't particularly hungry, so she decided she'd skip breakfast this morning.

She walked over the balcony and looked out onto the snowy park in front of her building. Kids were already out, building their snowmen and fighting with their snowballs. The trees circled the park, topped with white. The artificial lake in the center glimmered in the winter sunlight.

The lake had been built by the Piltover Architecture Corporation, PAC for short. PAC was the largest construction company in Piltover, and they were hired to build almost everything in the city-state. Everything from the lake, the building she lived in, to the coffee shop Alba worked at, had gone through PAC's hand at one point or another.

Urie had no idea how longshe had been looking out into the park, but she was startled back to reality when her phone played a small note. A text had arrived, from Alba.

 _"Going to watch the new Tracker_ _movie_. _Wanna join?"_

She had nothing to do that day.

 _"Sure. 12:30?"_

 _"Sounds good."_

So now Urie had something to do. The Tracker franchise had been going on for almost two decades. They kept producing it for marketing purposes, and people kept watching it out of tradition. They weren't all that terrible anyways.

Except for the sixth one. That one was just garbage.

She got dressed, and headed out to the monorail once more, waiting for it to arrive. She took it to the Square, where she promised to meet Alba. The blonde girl was nowhere to be seen.

A tap on her shoulder made her jump. When she turned around, Alba's wide eyes greeted her, accompanied by a smile.

"Yo."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't scare me like that every time we go somewhere."

Alba looked amused. "If I don't scare you, how are you gonna know I'm here?"

"... Shut up. We have a movie to watch."

They crossed the Square to enter the movies, or as the sign called it, "Victory Cinema". People were crowded in lines inside, and they slid behind the one on the very right. The line slowly inched forward, since most people didn't bother reserving seats to make the lines move quicker. But Urie and Alba were smart (or at least they considered themselves), so they reserved a pair every single time. Since it was always nice to be one step ahead.

When they finally reached the counter, the clerk spoke up

"Do you have seats reserved?"

"Yes."

The clerk looked impressed.

"Name, please?"

" 2 seats for the new Tracker, under Albacore." Alba was a shortened form of Albacore.

"Here it is."

The machine on the counter printed two small tickets, both which Alba picked up. The clerk said his thanks as they walked past him. The movies were bustling with people, and their chatter filled the building with a hum. Large, glowing signs advertised all sorts of movies, including the newest Tracker they were going to watch.

The third door to the left was their movie, seats 17D and 17E. As they settled in, the movie played.

Alba and Urie decided they didn't really like the new Tracker.

After two hours, they walked out of the dark theater and stretched.

Urie had something to say. "Hmph "

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm hungry. I want lunch."

"And I was actually worried for a second."

"New place opened up on 6th Ave. Wanna go?"

"I'm in."

6th Avenue wasn't too fact from the Square, and took only about 15 minutes by foot. Alba and Urie walked there, their boots crunching in the snow. The streets were jam packed with pedestrians, all hurrying along to get to where they needed to be. 6th Avenue was known because a lot of restaurants existed here, most of them which were almost always full to the brim with hungry people.

The Gromp had just opened up, with people lined up at the door.

"Is it for real called Gromp?" Alba didn't seem to pleased with the name.

"I heard foods not as gross as Gromp makes it sound."

"If I don't like it, you never get to pick we eat forever."

"What if I wanted one last meal before I died?"

"Not gonna let you pick."

They waited in the line for another 40 minutes chatting about everything from the terrible movie earlier to the fork from last night. They didn't seem to mind waiting, until they got to the counter and were led to their table, where a basket of bread waited for them. They sat down.

Urie's phone buzzed as a text arrived. She had to turn the sound off since they were at the movies, and she forgot to turn it back on. The text had come from Caitlyn.

 _"Occupied currently. Please pick up package from Greenhouse and bring to my place ASAP."_

Alba leaned over. "What's it say?"

Urie sighed. "Caitlyn wants a package picked up and brought to her place right now."

"Can't it wait?"

"Nope. When Caitlyn wants it right now, I gotta get it right now."

"Damn it."

The Greenhouse was a farm built by the PAC, and it was designed so that Piltover didn't need to import fresh foods at a high price from farms in Ionia and Demacia. It worked marvels for the food business in Piltover, and made it much cheaper to get the fresh foods.

They took the monorail for around twenty minutes,and arrived at the PAC complex, a location where all the utility structures built by the PAC were placed in. Everything from the power plant to the water filtration plant was here in this fifty square miles. The Greenhouse, thankfully, wasn't too far away from the station, maybe a mile tops. They walked slowly towards it, as Alba pulled the bread from her bag out.

"Want one?"

"I'm good."

"More for me."

They stopped in front of the Greenhouse, and the big grey building loomed in front of them. The door clicked open as it registered the visitors, and they pushed it open.

The Greenhouse's interior was a as expected. Rows and rows of table-like structures stood, each holding maybe a dozen plants, each with its own individual lamp overhead and a small sprinkler. Offices were built into the sides of the building, with the exception of the reception desk at the front. People in white lab coats walked around the interior of the Greenhouse, inspecting plants slowly, one at a time.

"May I help you?" The lady behind the reception desk spoke up.

"Oh, uh... We came here to pick up a package for the Sheriff."

"Give me one second, please." The woman began to type something into the computer, and a moment later, she wrote something down and handed it to them.

"The package should be in this office."

"Thank you."

The receptionist didn't reply as Alba and Urie walked into the Greenhouse. The slip of paper read "Office B3E" so it wasn't on this floor. They took the elevator and hit the B3 button, and after a short delay, the elevator began descend. The door dinged open.

The girls walked out into an underground version of the first floor, with two differences. The walls weren't made of metal, but rather of stone. The second difference was that, instead of being a complete floor, this floor was a ring along the edges of the wall. The center of the floor was just space, blocked off by a railing. If you looked down, then you would see the floors beneath you, all of which were rings just like this one. You could compare it to the inside of a bee hive.

The musky atmosphere of the floor slightly made them hesitate from moving forwards. They walked to the office with a label on the door indicating it was B3E. When they opened the door, there was a cluttered desk with a chair facing away from them. The top of a head could be seen, topped off with snowy white hair.

The chair spun around to show a middle-aged man, maybe around 35, 36. He clearly wasn't expecting visitors, as he looked confused when he saw them.

"No food in the office."

Alba took a second to realize this was directed at her.

"Oh. My bad." She tucked the bread away.

The man stood up. "And what brings you here?"

Urie found it hard to stay concentrated with all the clutter arouthe the office.

"Uh... package?"

"That. Alright. Give me a second."

The man pulled out a small box and placed it on his desk. As Urie's hand approached it to take it, he pulled a knife out and sliced the box open. Startled, Urie pulled her hand back and stuck it in her pocket.

The man pulled a cable out of a cabinet and placed one end into the box, the other into his computer. Only one flap of the top of the box was open, so they girls couldn't see within it. The man began to type furiously. At this time, Alba cleared her throat.

"So... what's your name?"

The man pointed at the door. She turned around and saw a diploma from Piltover University, where it said he was named "Elmore Howden".

Meanwhile, Urie had cleared some things around and discovered a chair and sat down. On Elmore's desk, she could see a newspaper from yesterday, and she pulled it out. The headline read "The Glorious Evolution?".

So she began to read.

 _Yesterday, renowned Piltover scientist, Jayce, was visited. The visitor was another scientist by the name of Viktor. He had claimed he was an ambassador from Zaun. The contents of their meeting was strictly confidential, as they had met within Jayce's private laboratory within the University. But what shocked people more than the meeting itself was the appearance of this so-called ambassador. Viktor had what seemed to be metal mask and gloves. He also appeared to have an odd protrusion at the top of his back. Several witnesses claim that it is an antenna, some form of a satellite dish, and some even speculate it to be a third hand. While the identity of this protrusion is yet to be determined, one thing is certain: Viktor the ambassador is more than human. When a reporter approached him as he left the University, he had nothing to say besides this: "The Evolution is coming. The Glorious Evolution." Many political experts suspect this meeting to be a result of the recently discovered crystal which Jayce has been researching as (continued on page 4)_

When Urie flipped to look at page 4, it wasn't there, as it had fallen out somewhere onto the mess that was Elmore's desk. She wanted to search through the mess for the missing page, but she wasn't sure Elmore would like it.

"There." Elmore closed the box and handed it to Urie, who stood up and tucked it under her arm.

"Well, I suppose you have a nice day."

Elmore replied with a grunt.

Alba spoke up. "Do you have any water, Elmore?"

He glared at her. "Get the hell out."

They walked out, closing the door behind them.

A/N: And there we have it, my first chapter of my first fanfic. It's a little slower than I wanted to be, but I really wanted to give you guys a look into some of the characters and their personality. This chapter's really here to set a setting down more than anything. Second chapter is a little more intense, I promise ^^(p.s., constructive criticism is appreciated)(p.p.s. If some of y'all decide to follow GH, I'd like some comments on if I improve or nah)

Post Edit: added a few things here and there, took out a few things here nas there, found a few spelling oopsies too. Whether I'll make some more edits in the future, I don't know (But I probably will)


	2. The Fear

Urie and Alba walked out the Greenhouse, glad to be with the fresh air again. The Complex clock read 4:57, and the sun was starting to go down. The horizon was a collage of red and blue, streaking the sky one last time for today.

"Weird guy, eh?"

Urie turned to look at Alba, who's blue eyes stared directly at her. She hadn't been paying attention, since she was still pondering the contents of the newspaper article.

"I guess." Elmore was a strange fellow, to say the least.

A gust of wind blew, causing both of them to shiver.

And Alba came up with a plan. "We better get home."

"You do that. I need to get to Caitlyn's place first."

"Then I wanna go too."

"What for?"

The blonde girl sighed. "I don't have anything to do, and the TV is all just cheesy holiday crap. I'm not really feeling dinner this early either."

"Alright. Let's roll."

They hopped back onto monorail, leaning against the walls of it as they quietly watched the evening news play on the monitor over their heads. The wheels clicked over the rail rapidly, bringing them closer to their destination every second.

"It's our stop." Urie said as she nudged Alba. She had fallen asleep during the half-hour ride. They got off at Residential Area K. Residential Area K was a much more prestigious place than Area C, where Urie lived. Instead of large apartments, every house was almost a mansion. The giant homes loomed overhead, each about the size of 20 suites from C.

Alba chirped up once more. "So which is Caitlyn's place?"

Urie pointed to four houses on their right. "Methinks that one."

"Then let's see if youthinks right."

"Shut the hell up."

They began to walk, but Alba slowed them down.

"Walk slower. I don't get to see rich people places often, so I'm gonna enjoy the view."

Alba's idea wasn't a bad one at all. Area K was very pricey to build, but it was worth of Piltover and the PAC from investing into it. The houses were arranged to form one large ring. A large lake was in the center, with a small island in the middle, populated by two lonely trees, both leaning towards one another. Artificial lights circled the lake, giving it an ethereal beauty. The sunset was also reflected on the water, turning the lake into a gorgeous orange shade. Willow trees drooped over the sidewalk, arching over all the pedestrians.

They reached the stretch of walk leading to Caitlyn's doorsteps. The girls walked forth and rang the doorbell. After a minute, the door was opened to reveal Caitlyn.

She spoke without hesitation. "Is that the package?"

"Yes Ms. Caitlyn."

"Thank you."

The sheriff began to close the door when Urie stuck her foot in the doorway to prevent it from closing. Caitlyn looked down at her foot, then at Urie.

"Is something wrong, Urie?"

She wasn't sure what to say. "Uh..."

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes.

"What's the Glorious Evolution?" Alba blurted.

Both Urie and Caitlyn looked startled that Alba knew about it.

"I looked over your shoulder at the newspaper, Urie."

"How do you know what that is?!" Caitlyn demanded.

As Urie hesitated, Alba spoke up once more. "Elmore had a newspaper on his desk and there was an article about it."

Caitlyn sighed. "One day, I knew his messiness would go bad."

Alba crossed her arms and stepped forward. "So what is it?"

Caitlyn pursed her lips and her eyes seemed lost in thought for a moment. A moment passed, and she drew up a reply.

"Come here tomorrow morning by 9. I'll explain everything then."

"Will there be breakfast?"

"Excuse me?"

Urie's jaw dropped as Alba popped the question. "Is there gonna be breakfast for us?"

Caitlyn already seemed exasperated with her. "...I'll have the kitchen make two more servings."

The blonde smiled. "Sweet. See you tomorrow then.

The sheriff sighed again and closed the door. Urie turned to Alba as they began to walk away, impressed wwith her audacity.

"I can't believe you asked Caitlyn for breakfast."

"You better believe it. So it's by 9?"

"By 9."

"Wanna come sleep at my place for the night?"

"Why?"

"Seems pointless to separate now and meet up again. Methinks you should just have dinner at my place and sleep there."

"Don't use methinks. Only I can use methinks."

"Methinks you jealous."

"I ain't spending the night if you methinks me again."

Alba patted Urie on the back. "We have places to be."

"And you have dinner to serve."

For the last time of the day, the monorail door shut behind them. They zoomed along the tracks, stopping now and then.

"So what do yo think it is?"

"Hmm?"

Urie was looking at Alba, who didn't seem to know what she was talking about.

"You know. IT."

"Oh. You mean IT. It's probably a rumor or hoax of some kind. I'm not concerned about it. People are getting worried over silly things."

"You're probably right. The press does get hyped up over nothing."

The walked out of the monorail at Residential Area E, where Alba's place was. It was, conveniently enough, on the first floor of the first building. The door clicked open at Alba's presence, and they entered.

Her place was about the same size as Urie's, but aesthetically, there were some serious differences. Instead of being a living room, kitchen, a bedroom, and one bathroom, this was one big square. The kitchen appliances were built into the wall, her bed sitting at one corner. The TV hung on the wall directly across from the bed, and other furniture items laid around the house as well. The only thing not in the living room was the bathroom, which was closed off by a door.

Even though they knew one another for almost 3 years, she had never been to Alba's place.

"Go on. Sit." Alba pointed to a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by four chairs.

"Why do you need four chairs if you live alone?"

"I don't. I eat on the bed when I'm alone. But when I have guests, I can't have them all sitting on the bed. Which is why it's so messy."

They ate, watching an old movie play on the TV, cringing at the poor quality. The clock ticked on slowly, from 8:00, to 9:00, to 10:00.

Urie looked up to the clock. "It's getting late. We should get to sleep."

"Mk." Alba was still staring at the screen.

"I'm taking a shower."

"You do that." For all Urie cared, she could kill herself right then and there and Alba wouldn't notice. She shook her head in a mix of amusement and disappointment and walked into the bathroom.

20 odd minutes later, she walked out with nothing but a towel around herself. "Do you have anything I can change into?"

"What? Oh. Closet's over there. Take your picks."

She looked within. As expected from the blonde, the inside was an absolute disaster, with clothes all over the bottom of the closet. The hangers were completely ignored, only a few coats hanging here and there and a dress for special occasions. She dug through the pile, unable to find anything she wanted.

"Do you have any pajamas?"

"Under the bed."

Urie sighed, but she was a bit impressed at how Alba could still keep track of everything. She opened up the drawers under the bed, revealing another mess. She found the pajamas she was looking for, and looked through her options.

And then she found the perfect one.

She held it up for Alba to see. "Can I wear this one?"

Alba stared right at it. "Why? Is purple your favorite color?"

"Course it is."

"Sorry, I couldn't tell by your purple hair, eyes, coats, hats, and boots."

"Don't you sass me."

Alba took a sweep of Urie's figure. "I don't understand why you walk around all covered up with" she pointed at Urie's upper body "that."

She threw a pillow at Alba.

That very night, Urie had a dream. She was standing in front of the beautiful lake at Area K. The sun was setting like it did earlier today. In fact, everything was the same as when she was there a few hours ago. With one exception.

There was no one else around that she could see. She was on the sidewalk by herself, alone at the large lake. Urie could hear people inside their homes, just the sounds of everyday life. She could explore this place to her heart's content, and no one would say anything.

She began to explore Area K. The large houses all had lights on, giving them a homely feel. Shadows of people could be seen in the windows. She tucked her hands in her pockets, smiled, and continued to walk.

As she approached the opposite side of where she started, she noticed a slightly ajar door. Out of curiosity, she peeked inside. When she noticed nothing wrong, she opened the door.

Urie was met with a large, sweeping staircase. Two large arches to the side led to other rooms, but the staircase intrigued her the most. She couldn't resist the temptation, so she began to walk up it.

At the top, she gasped. There was a red streak painted onto the marble floor, clearly blood. It swerved off to a room, whose door was shut. Urie turned around, shocked at what she saw.

She would walk down the stairs. She should walk down the stairs. She could walk down the stairs.

But Urie couldn't bring herself to do it. Something inside her deeply desired to see past the door, knowing nothing good could be on the other side. Urie, shaking, turned around once more and slowly walked to the door. She reached up to the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door.

Urie eyes snapped open.

Nausea overwhelmed her, and she sprinted to the bathroom. Once she had expelled the nauseous feeling from inside her, she stood up. Urie noticed a mirror, and looked into it.

Her eyes had a haunted look to them, her face drained of all color. She was still shaking, and couldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. Everything in the dream had started just fine, everything peaceful. If she never let her curiosity get the best of her, she would still be soundly asleep.

But then wouldn't she have eventually opened the door? Wouldn't she have eventually seen the blood's source? Was she meant to see it?

The image still haunted her, forever burned into her memory. She could remember everything down to the last detail. The sound of the pulse, the strained breathing, the disgusting stench.

She looked out the bathroom door, towards the clock. 3:12. Still quite a ways until morning.

A sour taste remained in her mouth. She washed her mouth out, then, looking at the mirror , washed her face. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked once more into the mirror. In those lavender eyes of hers, she had seen her definition of fear, horror, terror. She leaned against a wall and slumped to the floor.

Urie's greatest fear was the inability to help. Whenever she saw someone in need of help and she couldn't do anything, she always panicked. Her breath always quickened, her ears rang, and her eyes saw black spots. She couldn't do anything but watch the person suffer.

She had come up with a theory for her irrational fear, tracing it back to 3rd grade. She and her friends sat around a lunch table, enjoying their meal. Everything was going fine, until a boy next to her began to choke on his lunch. She tried to help, but nothing could be done. Urie had done everything her 8 year old self could do, which wasn't enough. She had tried to help him over to an administrator, crying, bawling, screaming and kicking for help.

By the time she had gotten to the administrator, it was too late. The boy had died in her own arms, and she couldn't do anything. She had been to therapy for ten years after that, but someone dying in your arms wasn't something you could treat with someone else trying to talk your problems away.

The one thing that she did get out of her decade of therapy was the therapist's suggestion of a distraction. So she looked around for a job, and landed herself a spot as a receptionist/assistant at the sheriff's office two and a half years ago. She had since then been able to suppress her fears, due to her job being completely focused around helping people.

She sat there, eyes closed, her head between her knees. She was disappointed with herself, for she thought she grew stronger. She thought she had conquered her fears, but she had just ignored them instead.

Urie stood up once more. Her disappointment wouldn't go away if she sat and wallowed within it. She could at least try and get some sleep so she could get to Caitlyn's in the morning.

Urie slid back into the bed, Alba sleeping quietly next to her. The only reason behind this sleeping arrangement was because she had trouble sleeping alone. Back home, she had George, and here, she had Alba.

She leaned on her side, eyes still open. Even as she laid, the terror lived within her again, her mind haunted. She couldn't help herself.

But she could do it. She could move on. She'd get her rest for the night, then she'd worry in the morning. She forcefully shut her eyes, mentally doing all she could do to distract herself.

And morning came. Urie had awaken earlier than she normally would. It was 6. She had barely earned any rest over the night, and what rest she did get, was haunted. Alba was still sleeping besides her, her quiet breathing barely registering in Urie's ears.

She sat up, still tired. Her head throbbed, and black spots appeared once more in her eyes. She cringed in pain, and held her head in her hands. The pain disappeared after a while, and she raised her head once more, both relieved and exhausted.

"Urie?"

She turned around to see Alba getting up, stretching. All her shuffling around must've woken her up.

"You can sleep more if you want. It's still plenty of time before we have to get to Caitlyn's."

She looked at the clock, which read 6:23. "Ok. I want some water first."

The blonde got out of her bed, heading for the fridge in the wall. She poured herself a glass, and began to head over back to the bed. She looked right at Urie.

"How come your eyes are red?"

Even Urie was a bit surprised to hear this. Her lack of sleep must've caused them to turn red with exhaustion. She reached up to touch her face, then put it down quickly.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"How come?"

She hesitated. Maybe Alba wasn't the right person to talk about this to. But if she couldn't tell Alba, who could she tell?

"I'll tell you later. It's a long story. Kind of."

She shrugged. "If you say so. Wake me in an hour or two."

"I got you."

Within minutes, Alba was back to sleep, laying with her face buried in her pillow. Urie, on the inside, was a little jealous of her. Alba didn't have to go through all the consequences whenever she faced her fears. As far as Urie was concerned, Alba didn't fear anything.

She laid back down next to Alba, arms crossed in front of her as she stared into nothingness. One panic attack had put her into a state of trauma for the last couple of hours. Whether Urie liked it or not, she had to become stronger.

She didn't realize she was spaced out for long, but when she looked up at the clock, it read 8:03.

They had less than an hour to get to Caitlyn's.

Urie shook Alba, who seemed positively startled when they woke up. They quickly got dressed and leapt onto the monorail as the doors were closing. They panted and leaned against the door as the car began to accelerate.

A bit later, Alba tapped her shoulder. "So you gonna tell me about your eyes?"

"Not with people around. Later."

All she got from Alba was a "Hmph", clearly unsatisfied with the reply.

It wasn't long until they were in front of Caitlyn's doorsteps, ringing the bell. The sheriff opened the door promptly, waving them in. They were led to the dining area, where 4 plates were set down. A large, bulky figure sat in another chair, their legs propped on top of the table. What stuck out the most about this individual were the massive contraptions placed onto their hands.

"Sit." Caitlyn indicated the seats next to the window, right besides the big figure. Alba cleared her throat.

The sheriff sighed, remembering Alba's request. She snapped her fingers twice, and a small cart wheeled itself to the room, large bowls and plates full of delectable dishes. The cart slid these dishes onto the table and quietly rolled itself out.

As people began to gather their breakfast together, Caitlyn sat, waiting for everyone to begin their meals. As everyone began to eat, she began her explanation.

"So I'm guessing you want the full explanation as to what the Evolution is."

The girls both nodded.

"Well, to do so, we must start from the beginnings, to seven years ago.

"The newspaper you read stated that Viktor, the ambassador, made his first visit to Piltover just recently. This is only what the press knows. Viktor's first visit to Piltover dates back to seven years ago.

"At this time, one of our famed scientists, Jayce, had gotten his hands onto a rare crystal. It was a very potent, very volatile mineral, capable of both creation and destruction. Viktor, hearing about it, came here as quickly as he could manage.

"Jayce wanted to harness the crystal's power to create, and Viktor, in a sense, wanted to create as well.

"Viktor, around this time, had all his credit for an invention stolen by a professor named Stanwick. This invention was a giant robot by the name of Blitzcrank. Blitzcrank set the groundwork for all modern robotics in both Zaun and Piltover. Anyways, the angered Viktor was dabbling into a new technology.

"He wanted to create a race of superhumans, or more accurately, a race of cyborgs. Half-man, half-machine, this race would be stronger, faster, smarter than the regular human.

"But to be able to sustain the mechanics, he needed a strong power source, and this is where Jayce's crystal steps in. It would provide a central power source to energize these superhumans.

"So he came to Piltover to convince Jayce to collaborate with him in what he called the 'Glorious Evolution'. When Jayce wouldn't work with him, Viktor wasn't happy. So he stole the crystal."

"Knew it!" Alba said.

"Anyways, this, in turn, angered Jayce, and he locked himself in his laboratory, inventing the famous Mercury Hammer. Equipped with it, he traveled to Zaun and used his Hammer to fight back for his crystal.

"But it was too late, as Viktor had already used the crystal to empower his creations: a third, robotic hand and a staff powered by a hex core fueled by the crystal. While Jayce still emerged victorious, it wasn't much of victory. And since then, Viktor has remained quiet.

"But recently, we received intel that Viktor has located a different power source, and has been successful in rallying more Zaunites into joining the Evolution. He has raised, essentially, an army. And the same intel has informed us of a series of attacks against Piltover. And to make things worse, Jayce has recently gone missing."

Both Urie and Alba's jaws dropped, shocked at the fact that the city they grew up and learned to love would be under attack. But two things was still off.

"Two questions. First, why did the newspaper print about the Evolution two days ago if it happened so long ago?" Urie queried.

"Most of the public never knew about the first attempt. This includes the press. Piltover government did what it could to cover it up to prevent panic. Second?"

"Hold on. Then wouldn't have people seen about the second in the paper?"

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. "You really do want to know everything, don't you?"

"I do."

"Well, the paper on Elmore's desk is special. It's a paper circulated only to people involved with the first attempt, which includes myself. It's written by the undercover agent in Zaun and delivered wirelessly through a hidden airwave. Elmore's eyes are a little weak, so he prefers printing them to read them. And your actual second question?"

"Are you gonna do anything to defend the attacks?"

"The Piltover army is there. But it isn't enough. It's a strong army, don't get me wrong, but it isn't equipped to deal with an empowered cyborg force. Which brings us to my second point."

Caitlyn snapped her fingers again, three times this time, and the cart wheeled back out, collecting dishes as it went around the table. She stood up, crossed her arms behind her back, and paced.

" We've been developing a small militia of our own, led by the two of us." Caitlyn indicated to the large figure, who raised her head. It was a woman, around Caitlyn's age, with a scarred face and short, pink hair.

"This is Vi. It was her idea to raise a small militia of our own to be able to combat the Evolved. For weeks, we have secretly trained an army, recruiting members we see fit. Or those who accidentally found out about it."

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at Alba, who smiled and laughed nervously.

"We call this militia the HAUNT. It originally stood for the Augmented Undercover Neutrality Team. The purpose was, as the name suggests, to create an undercover team of augmented soldiers to neutralize the threat. Vi insisted we add a H at the front to let us say 'HAUNT' instead of 'A-U-N-T' every time."

Alba leaned forward. "And we're in because we accidentally found out about it?"

"That you are, blondie. You two, if you wish, can join the HAUNT if you so desire."

Alba spoke again. "Do we have to go through special training or something?"

"Yes. You'll be trained to learn how to use some recently developed military technology. It's going to be an arduous process, but we must do what we can to fend the attacks off."

It was Urie's turn to talk. "And if we don't want to join?"

"No problems. We'll simply inject you with a memory wiping drug, and it'll cause you to forget all the things that happened within the last 24 hours."

Urie flinched. If it was the last 24 hours, that would include not just the Evolution, but the nightmare too. She wouldn't doubt herself again, and she'd be able to live like she wanted.

But what if the dream returned? She would go through everything all again: the nausea, the pain, the doubt, and the fear. If she forgot about it now, it'd only return to terrorize her dreams later. There was a reason people say it's now or never. Except never was later. So now or later.

Alba's excited comment stirred her back to reality. "So you in, Urie?"

"Um..."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun. If the HAUNT saves Piltover, we'll be heroes!"

She closed her eyes and sighed. She'd do it, only to prevent the nightmare from going away.

"Alright, I'm in."

A wide smile spread across Alba's face. "Same goes for me then." She put an arm around Urie and pulled her towards in. "We're in!"

"You sure look excited, Cait." Vi commented ironically.

It was obvious that Caitlyn found Alba's personality incredibly annoying, and very noticed but Alba. The blonde simply smiled away.

Urie had a few more questions. "So do we have to quit our jobs or something to be able to participate?"

Alba looked a little less happy about this. "I can't do that, I still have school to go to."

Alba took courses at the University at the evening, classes such as business management and economics. While she worked at the Brew Crew for the time being, her ultimate dream had been to open her own cafe. Urie had finished all the requirements to graduate, so she wasn't as particularly concerned.

Caitlyn noticed the blonde's expression. "There isn't a need for that. HAUNT meetings will be held at obscure hours, mostly in the night. Currently, we are only in the stages of basic training. Official training will be held once the war has been declared."

"And this opened the wayfor Urie's second question. "And how will we know when these meetings are?"

Another reply came her way. "You'll get a small watch-like device. It'll notify you when the new meeting is held. And speaking of , Vi?"

Vi pulled out the two devices and tossed them to the girls. Alba caught hers, while Urie dropped hers. They were both black watches, with one exception. The face wasn't a clock, but rather blank. As they looked into it, both watches flashed, causing both girls to flinch.

"The watches are now permanently yours. When a new date has been set, it'll vibrate lightly. The watches have read your corneas, and they'll only show the date when you girls look into it. Otherwise, it'll remain blank." Caitlyn said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"And does that conclude your questions?"

"So we have to commit full-time when the war officially starts?"

"Correct. Which means you'd have to put your job and education on hold."

Alba had something to say about that. "But my classes would -"

Caitlyn held out a finger to silence her. "If the war is won, your education will be paid for by the government."

She quieted down.

Caitlyn turned to face them, her arms crossed. "Any final questions?"

Silence.

"Alright then. Let me remind you, no one is to know about this besides you two. Your orientation will be at the first meeting."

This signaled the end of this talk. Alba and Urie stood up and walked to the door. Caitlyn followed behind them. "Well, see you at the office tomorrow, Urie. I'll see you at the next meeting, Alba."

Alba smiled and waved at the sheriff as she walked away from the house. "Bye!"

Caitlyn sighed and closed the door behind her.

"Well this is fun, isn't it?" Alba immediately began to speak.

"We're not allowed to talk about it, remember?"

"Shoot. Fine. Hey look, it's snowing!"

While they were inside, snow had indeed begun to fall. Soft flakes descended from the sky, silently landing at their feet. One landed on the tip of Urie's nose, and she reached up to wipe it off, when something hit the back of her head. She turned around, and Alba was staring away from her, her arms behind her back. When she saw Urie, she looked like she was innocent.

"Give me a second, Alba."

"For what... oh." She tensed as Urie prepped a snowball.

"I'm gonna get you back." She threw it,and Alba began to run.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Alba ducked down, picked up her own snowball, and threw it back. "It was those kids, for real!"

She was pointing at the arms of kids sticking out from behind trees.

"GET EM!" Alba shrieked, arming herself with another snowball. The kids screamed and began to run.

Inside, Caitlyn looked out the window at the fight outside. She turned around and sat down across from Vi. "They don't seem the least bit concerned that Piltover might be destroyed soon."

"Well, they might as well have all the fun they can right now. It's gonna go away soon." Vi stood up and her gauntlets began to click with gears repositioning.

"You know Vi, I'm a little jealous of them. I've been so swamped with everything going around, I haven't had fun in the last couple of years."

Something small hit Caitlyn on the cheek, a drop of dressing from the meal earlier.

"Did you flick that at me, Vi?"

Vi smiled and shrugged, then walked away.

Urie returned to her place after saying goodbye to Alba at the station. She had been through a lot over the last two days, and she wanted nothing but to rest.

Since it was winter, the sun set early, providing zero light from the windows. She didn't bother turning the lights on, and she laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

So, she was now part of a militia. She was going to help defend the city from an attack. And she didn't know when it would hit, and for all she knew, it could be tonight, next week, or next year.

And the dream. Oh, the dream. She could still see it, the disgusting entity behind the door. She could remember seeing her face in the mirror, the cold walls of the bathroom she slumped in, and the quiet breathing of Alba that remained constant through all this.

But she was done with it. Her worrying wouldn't help her conquer her fears, so she just needed to get over it. She sighed, then turned on her side and looked at the clock. 5:58. It wouldn't normally be dark, but it was winter, and the sun set quickly in the winter at Piltover.

She closed her eyes and laid there, ready to go to sleep. Outside, the nightlife bloomed slowly, filling the streets with a buzz of excitement. Urie ignored all this, distracted in her own thoughts.

The clock kept going in the dark, from 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00. Urie opened her eyes again and saw the clock at 12:01. She had laid still with her eyes closed for the last six hours, but couldn't sleep. She only grew more exhausted.

Her mind began to process her thoughts once more, cconversing with itself.

 _" Why can't I sleep?"_

 _" Maybe you're to excited about the HAUNT."_

 _" Ehh... Am I just not tired?"_

 _" Nope. Can't be. You're tired and you know it."_

 _" Yeah, I guess. I've done nothing in the last six hours in bed, I should be more than asleep by now."_

 _" But you know why you can't sleep."_

 _" I do?"_

 _" Yup."_

 _" I'm worried about if we get attacked?"_

 _" Nope."_

 _" I'm worried about something I saw today?"_

 _" Closer. Go a little more back."_

 _" Nope. It's not the dream. I'm over it."_

 _" Are you really? Or are you jusf repressing it?"_

 _" I'm not repressing it..."_

 _" You are. Trust me."_

 _" I'm not."_

 _" You are."_

 _" I'm not. "_

 _" You-"_

" I'M NOT!" Urie screamed. She buried her face in her pillow, eyes watering. Her mind told her that she was over it, but her subconsciousness was right. She was repressing it.

 _" Now that I think about it, I think ignoring is a better word."_

 _" Please stop."_

 _" You're pathetic. One bad dream has you in shambles, you've completely fallen apart! You're PATHETIC "_

 _" Go away."_

 _" Why? So you can cry yourself to sleep and live in a lie? I'm you. I wouldn't lie to you "_

 _" Shut up."_

 _" Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. You can't handle the truth cause it's not what you want it to be. Oh, I got another word just for you. You. Are. A. Wreck."_

Urie cried into her pillow, ashamed of herself. Nothing her mind could do would console her, every last word from her subconscious self was correct. She was pathetic. She was trying to live a lie. She was a wreck.

Her suite soon turned silent, with no detectable sound around. Urie laid in bed, afraid to think or sleep. If she thought, she would only see how much more of a pathetic excuse she was. She was afraid of sleep, because the dream might return.

Urie remained awake, whispers of the truth haunting her.

A/N: I did promise it'd get more intense, and I thought it got more intense. Some deep looks into Urie, to really give her a much more developed identity. I really got some feels and Vanilla coca cola going through me as I wrote it. Haven't really decided on what to write about for 3, maybe more into Urie, could be about Alba. Will take at least two days to write the next one, depending on the sheer amount of homework. We'll find out soon :3


	3. Finding Urie

Alba hummed as she looked through her pantry for today's breakfast. The fiber cereal sat untouched, because it came with raisins.

She pulled a box of pancake mix out and closed the pantry door behind her as she walked to the stove. The stovetop turned a menacing, red glow as the heat intensified. She poured some mix onto a pan as it heated up, and the mix began to take shape into an actual pancake. In a last minute decision, Alba opened up the pantry and pulled a small bag of chocolate chips and scooped some onto the mix. She accidentally poured a little too much, and the pancake became more chocolaty than pancakey.

She sat down at her bed with the plate in her hand, staring at the TV as she scarfed down her pancake. The morning news were on, and she didn't have anything better to do. The weatherwoman Janna was yapping away about the snow.

"As we all know, it snowed a lot more than we expected it to yesterday. Some roads have been blocked off, but not any major roads so far. The snow's stopped for now, but stats show that it's likely to snow again by noon, 3 o'clock at the latest. That's all I have to say for now, so back to you, Cyrus."

When the clock clicked to 6:30, Alba left the apartment in her Brew Crew uniform: a white and brown blouse, a blue skirt, white leggings, and brown leather boots coming up to her knees. As cute of an outfit it was, it was a little impractical in the cold, so she had pulled on a thick coat and put a small brown hat on before she had left.

Outside, wind has blowing harshly as it slowly turned Alba's ears to a raw, pink shade. She pulled the coat around her more tightly as she waited for the monorail. When the train arrived, she gladly strode into it, only to leave it ten minutes later. When she saw the Brew Crew, she turned a left and walked past a few more shops to an intersection. She took a right this time, then, a minute later, another right to enter an alley. The door labeled "BREW CREW EMPLOYEES ONLY", she walked inside.

The shop was much warmer than it was outside, so she decided it wasn't necessary to keep the coat on. The coat rack provided her with an answer.

She checked in with the machine next to the door, which told her it was 7:03. She walked to the front and parked herself behind the counter, two other people next to her. She took in order after order, pressing button after button, pouring sugar and milk, and opening the register time after time. But something was off.

It was 7:34 when Alba finally realized what was wrong. Urie hadn't arrived for her latte today. Maybe she was sick from being out in the snow? Maybe she had to get to work in a hurry and had no time for coffee? The only way to find out was to wait until her shift was over at 12:30.

As 9:00 rolled around, the amount of people coming in for coffee dropped drastically, since almost everyone was at work by this time. A few teenagers, all on their winter break, visited now and then for a warm drink.

Alba stood there, a toothpick in her mouth as she looked up at the clock now and then. This was perhaps the most boring time of the day for her, when she just stood there, literally doing nothing. A few more people trickled in, getting their coffee. The most interesting thing that happened was when a guy sat down at a table and began typing away at his laptop.

Finally, 12:29 ticked into place,and she sighed in relief. She walked back through a door and into the employee's room. She pulled her coat back on, signed out on the machine, and walked out. She would grab some sandwiches for herself and Urie, and she'd swing by the Sheriff's office.

The old lady who owned the shop handed her the two sandwiches she ordered earlier, both warm from the bread being fresh out of the oven. She tucked them into her bag and began her stroll to the office, whistling a song she remembered hearing as a kid. The cold air made it a little tricky to do it, but she still managed.

The steps to the office door loomed before her, nice and concrete. She took a deep breath, and walked up the stairs to the door.

The receptionist's desk sat directly in front of her, only to surprise her. Urie wasn't sitting there, but a small, brown-haired man instead. He looked up as she entered . "Can I help you?"

"Um... Is Urie here?"

"Urie didn't show up today. Didn't even leave us a call or a text."

"Really?"

"Really."

Alba pondered over this for a few moments. "Alright. Thanks."

"No problem."

So Urie hadn't shown up to work today, and no one else knew where she was. So, using her best judgment, Alba concluded Urie was at her place currently, probably sick. So she'd make a surprise visit and go wish her to get better. Knowing Urie, she would enjoy a good surprise. After all, who didn't?

She stood in the huddle of people waiting for the monorail, looking through some of the new recipes people had been posting on a cooking site on her phone. There were all sorts of things, from a twist on onion soup to chocolate wine. All sorts of things.

She walked into, then out of the monorail and Area C. The tall buildings created an architectural forests around her, protecting the artificial lake. The lake was no where near the level of elegance and beauty as the one in K, but it still did a decent job.

She hustled into Building 14, shivering as the doors slid shut behind her. She walked into the elevator and hit the button labeled "7". She bounced on her toes, anxiously waiting for the elevator ride to be over with. The elevator bell dinged and the door opened. She strutted to suite 702, stopped in front of it, and hit the doorbell.

It ringed. No answer.

Maybe Urie didn't hear it. She rang the doorbell again.

It rang again. No answer again.

She rang it one more time.

Once again, no answer.

At this point, Alba grew suspicious of Urie's behavior. Maybe she wasn't home? But if she wasn't home or at the office, where could be be? She had three answers she could think of in order to find out. She decided to hold off the third answer as a last resort.

The first answer was Hora's. Urie could be there toeither pick up or drop off George. She wasn't at work, so that reason was off the list. But then she could be visiting just to chat or something.

She headed down to the fifth floor, and after four different doorbell, found Hora's place. And after talking to her, she found out Urie wasn't down there. As she thanked her and prepared to leave, Hora held her back for a second.

"Alba, I'm leaving in half an hour for a family reunion. Could you take care of George?"

"If you have a leash, I'll walk him around."

"Let me go get it then."

So, as she walked out of Building 14, George pranked along behind her. She walked to the lake and sat at a bench, with people walking and socializing around her. A particularly "loving" couple sat next to her, and to give them room, she slid away until she had moved onto a different bench.

She looped the leash around her wrist and pulled her phone out. She found the contact she needed, and hit the "Call" button. A few rings later, they other side picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Cherub."

"Oh, hello, Albacore! How are you?"

"Just fine, thank you."

"Some weather, huh?"

"Yup."

"And how are your classes?"

"Going great."

"Well, you probably didn't call me to hear me ramble. What do you need, sweetie?"

"I was wondering if you knew where Urie was?"

"Oh, is my little girl not at work?"

"Nope."

"Or home?"

"No one answered the door when I rang the bell, so probably not."

"Hmm... Well I wouldn't know. I'll call you again if I find anything out."

"Thank you."

"Have a nice day, Albacore."

"You too, Mrs. Cherub."

She hung up. So Urie's mother had no idea where she was. Hora had no clue to her whereabouts. And this left her with her third answer.

She tugged on the leash. "Come on, George."

The dog got off the ground, stretched, and began to walk alongside her as she walked down a road, passing the monorail station. Her destination wasn't terribly far away, but only accessible by foot.

She found the place she needed and walked up the stairs. Opening a door, she entered a very official-looking reception area. Several couches filled the softly lighted area, and the woman behind the desk looked up.

"Are you here for a meeting with Dr. Touran?"

"Yes."

"Take a seat and please wait. It will take 30 minutes at the most."

"Alright."

She sat around for the next half an hour, looking through more of the homemade recipes. She found some more interesting ones, marked them to read them later again, and repeated the process for other recipes again. When the doctor poked his head out the door and called her name, she stood up and walked into the small office.

The office was truly simple. Three pieces of furniture existed within: one chair, one couch, and a desk. Nothing else besides the lights and the windows.

"So. What brings you here, Ms..." he looked down at a form. "Albacore?"

She sat down on the couch, and George sprawled out on to the floor besides her. She crossed her legs, held her hands together above her knees, and began to speak.

"Actually, I wanted to speak about Urie today."

"Sorry, I can't do that. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

"She's been missing for the entire day, and I think she's been having nightmares, but wouldn't tell anyone."

"I still can't reveal any information about Urie without knowing your relation to her "

"I'm her sister." Alba declared boldly.

"You two look nothing alike."

"That's the magic of modern day cosmetic surgery."

"Your last name is Raughn. Urie's is Cherub. How would you explain that?"

She hesitated briefly on that one, and stalled by pretending to get a drink. "I was married once."

Touran narrowed his eyes. "You're too young to be married."

"I'm 21, aren't I? It's legal to get married and divorced at 21, isn't it?"

The doctor seemed baffled at Alba's responses. When it came to lying, Alba's policy was to always say it with confidence, no matter how full of crap it was.

"Well, if you claim to be her sister so vehemently, I cannot doubt you." He leaned back in his chair. "So what is it that you wish to know?"

"Over the last ten years,what'd you diagnose about her?"

"What did I diagnose Urie with? Alright then. Let's get started.

"As you may know, when she was a mere child, someone died in her own arms. This traumatized Urie for years to come, and developed her fear of the inability to help. Since then, she had always had a compulsive need to look out for others.

"But one thing that grew out of this was also nightmares. When I first met her, she was having nightmares at almost a daily basis, and it became so severe at one point she almost died of exhaustion by starving herself of sleep, fearful that the nightmares would return.

"After some intense therapy, both psychological and medicinal, her nightmares were reduced to almost none, and she was able to return to a regular sleep schedule. But during her sleep deprivation, she developed a condition I personally call the "Dual Mind Syndrome", DMS for short."

"DMS?" Alba asked

"DMS is a case where a person develops such a large fear for something, that when they try to conquer or repress it, they simply fall apart mentally and/or physically. Most patients suffering from DMS claim that they have a conversation with their subconscious self, which acted almost as a second mind. Which gives us the namesake of DMS.

"Now, everyone suffers from DMS differently. Some people have minor problems, such as shortness of breath or exhaustion. Some have more major issues. I've seen DMS related issues result in heart attacks, paranoia, spontaneous schizophrenia, and many more things. Urie happens to be, unfortunately, suffering on the major issues side.

"Urie has a tendency to enter a complete state of isolation during a DMS attack. And this isolation is an absolute state of itself. She will become completely unaware of everything going on around her. She ignores everything affecting her five senses. If she was being stabbed by a burning knife, she wouldn't notice. If her mother was calling out for her to get dinner, she won't hear. If an entire dance troupe appeared before her and did a grand dance number, she wouldn't see it. The point is, she becomes completely alone.

"And in some cases, DMS attacks have been noted to occur alongside with nightmares involving these fears. If I had to wager, I would say Urie might be currently suffering from a DMS attack from the nightmare you theorized she had. So. Questions?"

Alba had many questions about this, but couldn't say any of them. She was completely silent in shock. She had always known Urie had trouble dealing with what happened in the past, but she didn't think it was to this extremity. So when nobody answered the door, Urie must've been suffering from one of those DMS attacks, rendering her deaf to the doorbell.

"Hello?" the doctor waved his hand in front of her face, snapping his fingers.

Alba, startled, shook her head. "So, uh, how long does one DMS attack last in Urie's case?"

"It's difficult to determine the exact duration of an attack. It depends on the severity of the event leading up to the attack. But from what I've been able to calculate, Urie's DMS attacks last anywhere from half an hour to 8 hours."

"8 hours?!"

"8 hours. It's happened only once, and that was still during the early stages of her medicinal therapy."

"Is there a way for us to help and wake her up from the isolation?"

"To this date, we've been unable to find a solid solution to her attacks. My theory is that if we somehow disrupt and end Urie's isolation early, the transition from solitude to socialization might be too much of a difference for her brain to handle, and it may cause an aneurysm of some form."

Alba leaned back into the couch and sighed. Something in the nightmare from two nights ago triggered last night or this morning, rendering her in a state of extreme solitude. But if it was from two nights ago, why had it affected her tonight?

"Well, that about concludes our time together, Miss Alvacore."

"It's Albacore."

"Right. And before you leave, I have one last thing to say."

Alba turned to face the doctor, one foot out the door and George tugging on the leash.

"I know full well you aren't related to Urie. I only told you what I did because you wanted to know for Urie's benefit, not your one."

She walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Within suite 702, silence still inhabited the rooms. Almost no life could be detected within the housing, everything standing still. The only clue that something alive was within was a rough breathing from the bedroom.

Urie still laid still, her eyes, ears, and body completely disconnected from reality. The voice within taunted and mocked her incessantly, and she protested less and less with each remark. The more she heard it, the more true it became "

" _Look at you, Urie. Only if you didn't open that door, then we wouldn't be having this merry talk, eh? That pesky curiosity of yours really knows how to get back at you for fueling it."_

 _Silence._

 _" And furthermore, so what if he died? You weren't going to do anything anyways. It was just you, a little girl, in a world full of ignorant adults. I guess you could also be called foolish then, thinking you could actually do something."_

 _Silence._

 _"So. Completely out of 'shut up's and 'go away's? Pfft. At least stood up for yourself back when we first started. Now you're just sitting around, taking in all the shit I'm dishing out. You don't even believe in yourself._

 _"You're right."_

 _"Oh? You can actually talk, can't you? Alright, let's see what your pretty little mouth has got in stock for me."_

 _"You're right. I don't believe that all you said is right. I was an idiot to believe that people would listen to me trying to save someone. I mean, if they were meant to die, then they would've died nevertheless. I only interfered for no good reason."_

Suddenly, a ringing pain resonated within her head, and she couldn't focus. The noises of the outside buzzed back into prominence, and she finally saw the clock once more

6:15.

She had spent over 12 hours in, essentially, a coma, in a battle with her subconscious. She lost horribly, and her subconscious dissected her down to every last part of her existence.

She was trying to live a lie.

She didn't believe in her own self.

She was a pathetic excuse for life.

Then a quick thought blinked into her mind. She could end it all right then and there. She did live on a seventh floor of a building, which was a good 70 feet up. If she did take the leap, then she would no longer be haunted by the nightmare and her own, abusive subconscious.

The doorbell rang.

She stood up to answer it, only to sit back down as the pain in her head grew stronger. She hit the switch on the wall, and said "Come in", and the door automatically clicked opened. Alba rushed into her room.

"Urie!"

She looked up, barely making out the blonde's shape in her clouded vision. From what she could tell, it looked like Alba was sitting besides her, George sitting next to her feet.

"I know about the DMS".

Urie wanted to speak to question this, but the headache intensified when she tried to speak.

"Shh."Alba put a finger on Urie's lips.

"I got worried when you didn't show up this morning, and when I went to the office after my shift, you weren't there either. So I came here, but you wouldn't answer the door, so I thought you weren't her either. Hora and your mom had no clue as to where you were. So I then I turned to Touran."

Urir tried to protested in anger again, but her headache distracted her from being able to do much.

"I know, I feel terrible about going behind your back like that, but it was the only choice left for me. Anyways, I lied to him and told him I was your sister, and he told be everything.

"I don't care that you didn't tell me about the DMS. What got to me more was that you didn't ask for help when you needed it. You're scared of boy being able to help others, but how are you going to do that if you can't help others help you?"

Urie remained silent, tears streaming down her face. At least she had one person who cared about her on this level.

"Look, I don't need to know about your nightmare. Just don't completely isolate yourself from everyone. We're all worried about you, and we'll do that we can to help. At least, I know I will."

Urie leaned into Alba, silently crying in both sadness and joy. Alba put her arms around her caressed her as she cried into her shoulder.

Urie whispered something nearly inaudible.

Alba leaned a little closer."Yeah?"

"Thank you."

The blonde smiled and brought her in closer. The dark Piltover sky sparkled with stars and streetlights in the dark room. Only the girls' silhouettes were visible.

Alba was only brought back to reality when her wrist buzzed. Urie has fallen asleep in her arms during all that. It was the first proper rest she got in the last 48 hours. Alba gently laid her on her bed, pulled a blanket over her, and crept out of the room as to not disturb her.

Her watch-like device had caused the buzzing, as a new announcement was sent out. When she looked down, the small screen blinked briefly and displayed a message.

" _Sheriff's, 11 PM, Tues"_

So the first meeting date was in place. It would be on Tuesday, eleven at night, at the sheriff's office. She considered waking Urie to tell her, but she decided she'd just tell her tomorrow, whether it be at the coffee shop or by swinging by her place.

She yawned and stretched, exhausted from finding Urie. It was 10:10, so the monorail would've stopped operating 10 minutes ago. She could walk back to her apartment, but that was at least a good hour. She'd just spend the night here.

Everyone slept peacefully that night.

The next morning, Alba snuck out quietly, silently closing the door behind her. Her original plan was to get to her place, change, and head to work, until she realized she was still in the uniform, due to the fact that she went straight from work to Urie's. So she just decided to get to work a little earlier today.

Everything that day went normally with a few exceptions. Urie was a little worn out throughout the day. The only other difference from a normal day was that the morning coffee took 15 seconds more, as Alba had to show the message sent out last night.

But besides all that, nothing interesting happened. Alba ended her shift at 12:30, and went to her classes at 4. Urie's work at the office ended at six o'clock since she had some extra work from being gone the day before.

Until the clock hit 10:30. As if on a timer, both Alba and Urie began heading out from each of their respective homes. Both of them got into a monorail and rode along to the office, both excited for the meeting.

But, to one another's disappointment, Alba didn't see Urie, and vice versa. Urie's monorail had to make one extra stop, setting her behind by about two minutes.

Alba stood in front of the Sheriff's office, where no one stood around. She looked around, but no one was in sight.

" _Maybe everyone's inside."_

She walked up the steps and pulled on the door, only to find it completely shut. Suddenly, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look at it, but she saw nothing .

Did she read the message wrong? Was it Thursday and not Tuesday? Was it 11 AM and not PM?

Then she saw it again. A blink of light. It originated from one of the brushes next to the office, just barely visible to the naked eye. Out of curiosity, she walked over to it peered at it.

And she heard it. It was just barely audible, and even then you really had to concentrate to hear it. It was a quiet whooshing, which sounded like it came from the same place as the light.

Another blink of light. Normally, Alba wouldn't have done it, but given the situation, shedidn't really have a choice. She sighed and crouched, crawling into the brush completely blind. The whooshing noise grew a touch louder as she crawled further, until she bumped her head into a wall. A dead end, in some ways.

Feeling dumb, she turned around when her hand was caught on something. It was a handle of some kind, made of cold steel. Intrigued, she pulled her phone out and illuminated her hand and saw a metal hatch underneath her, with her hand caught under a handle. She wrapped her hand around it and pulled.

It wouldn't budge the first time she pulled, the second time, or even the third time. But the fourth time, it slowly began to raise, until it was completely open.

"Ow..." Alba held her hand, which was a pale color from having it pressed against the handle the whole time.

She peeked inside,and it was completely dark. From another blink of light which came from a small bulb on the wall, she stopped a rung of a ladder. Tucking her phone into her pocket, Alba began to slowly climb down.

After what seemed like an eternity, her foot finally hit solid ground, and Alba let out a deep breath she had been holding in. As much as she hates to admit it, she was deathly afraid of the dark. She turned her phone on once more to illuminate her surroundings.

She stood in a concrete chamber, the ladder going up in front of her for at least a good 60 feet. Behind her, a steel door stood silently. When she pulled, it, like the hatch above, didn't budge immediately.

But unlike what she saw earlier, this door didn't budge even after several attempts. She pounded against the door, only to receive silence in response. She began to feel the door from top to bottom with her palm, her wrist clicking every time the watch hit the door.

A sudden three beeps startled her. A green square lit up on the door,and she could begin to hear gears clicking and hissing, and the door slowly swung open.

Inside were people just standing around. Some were looking at their phones, some were chatting with one another, and some were just quiet. Everyone stood on a concrete platform which dropped off. The only thing inside this room was a clock built into the wall, which read 10:56.

Quietly, Alba leaned against a wall, waiting for eleven o'clock, which was when she expected something to happen. Then the door opened again, and Urie walked in.

Alba smiled when she saw her, and waved. Urie waved back and walked over to her, and just like her, leaned against a wall.

Eleven o'clock.

A small rumbling noise suddenly began to fade in, growing more audible with every second. Everyone looked towards where the platform dropped off as a small train car, very similar to the monorail above, except a lot more banged up and rusted. The doors slid open, and everyone poured in.

Alba did a brief headcount and counted 16 people, give or take one since some people were taller than her, blocking her sight. There was some excited chatter floating around the car, but besides that, it was completely quiet.

Her mind began to race. She had no idea what waited for her at the end of the ride. It could be a huge weapon storage room, it could be a giant auditorium. A slight sense of adrenaline began to pump through her veins as she impatiently waited. The adrenaline only grew when the train began to decelerate. It came to a complete halt soon, and the door opened.

A large, official-looking man stood, waiting for them. He wore a yellow jacket, and wore a very stern expression. His snowy white hair would've made him seem like an old man, but his face indicated that he was around his fourties.

He cleared his throat, silencing every last bit of idle conversation. He began to walk away, down a corridor, and everyone, as if in a trance, followed along.

Their destination was a small room, which was empty with the exception of a podium. The white haired man stood behind it, and stared down at everyone.

"Welcome to the HAUNT."

A/N: The core of this chapter was going to be about Alba (get it :D), it just circled back to Urie again. I really wasn't sure on how to start this one out, so I thought I'd have a go at her daily life. The ending kind of took another long while to write, since I really wasn't sure how I'd get the whole HAUNT stuff up and running. SPOILERS: planning on heating things up next chapter, not sure how though


	4. Free Spirit

"Welcome to the HAUNT."

The man's voice filled the room with a sense of dangerous authority. Everyone stared quietly at the podium, no one daring to interrupt him.

"I am Captain Titanius. I have been designated to become the head general when the war begins, and I have the authority to rule over anyone on the battlefield."

Urie stood on her toes, trying to get a good look at the captain. Taller people stood in front of her, obstructing her view. She could see Alba doing just the same next to her.

"This is your orientation. All of you have been selected because you have met at least one of three categories: you were involved with the first Evolution, you are in peak physical and mental condition, or you found out by mistake and stuck by it."

Alba and Urie looked at one another, amused.

"Today, I will introduce you to the complex. For those who are unaware, we are underneath the PAC complex. The train you rode to get here is built into the old sewer system of the complex.

"Now, let us begin."

Titanius walked out of the room, and everyone followed in unison. He walked down the corridor silently until it opened into a large, empty room. Large didn't even to begin to describe it. If you took about 30 of Alba's apartment, then it might be enough to describe it.

Titanius turned arounto speak once more. "This is the Chamber. All important meetings concerning all HAUNT members will be held here. This will also act as a mess hall."

They walked all around the underground complex. It was a massive structure. If it was brought above ground, it could become a small city of its own. Starting from the mess hall, the entire complex held a supply warehouse, an entire wing dedicated to education of HAUNT members, the hive-like structure under the Greenhouse, to a shooting range. The tour was going smoothly until they reached the housing areas.

Titanius began to speak again. "This is the housing area. When the-"

"Titanius?" A voice called out.

From the distance, Vi walked into sight, approaching with footsteps weighed down by her massive gauntlets. She walked up to Titanius and stood, staring him eye to eye.

"Caitlyn wants to see you. I'll take over the rest of the orientation."

The Captain narrowed his eyes, as if he disapproved Vi's ability to complete what he started. "Alright."

He walked off from the way Vi came, down to the Chamber. Meanwhile, Vi turned to face them.

"So! I assume he hasn't covered the housing area yet."

"No" somebody said.

"Aight then. So this is the housing area. You won't be using this place until the war officially starts. When it does, you guys are going to be moved from your place to here, and until it's over, you'll live here."

She turned and began to walk. When she didn't hear footsteps trailing behind, she turned around to face them. "Come on. You guys probably don't have all day, and I sure as hell don't."

Vi, while still possessing an aura of authority, didn't seem as strict and rule-abiding as Titanius was. She had a much more laid back attitude, and talked in a much more casual manner. She still looked intimidating with her size, but she seemed much more friendly than Titanius was.

Another hour or so later, their orientation ended. "Now, your orientation is officially over. It's late, so I'll try and end this quickly. This week is all training. Starting tomorrow, you're going to get some training in everything from handling guns to basic tech stuff. When the war actually starts, you'll be placed into a job, depending on what you're good at. So, any questions?"

Someone's hand shot up.

Vi pointed at it. "Shoot."

"Do we come back same time tomorrow?"

"Mhm. Maybe not the exact same time, but same place. You guys aren't the only people for the HAUNT, you know. Other people are in too, they just had orientations on different days. Any more?"

Silence.

"Sounds good then. All of you guys are dismissed, and the train should get here sooner or later. Just remember, when you guys leave, don't all leave at once. Maybe in groups of three or four at a time. But besides all that, I'll see you folks later."

Vi turned and walked away, and, as if on cue, the train rolled its way to the platform where they had ended the orientation. They filed in, one by one, and the door slid shut behind them.

Alba looked to Urie.

"Cool place, huh?"

"It's big. Really big."

"That it is."

The remainder of the ride went quietly, everyone exhausted from the late night orientation. Urie sighed, disappointed when she realized she'd barely get any rest within the near future. It wasn't all negatives, however. At least she was spending her time doing something productive, and she wasn't alone when she was doing it.

EEveryone made it home safely that night, mingling in with the late night partygoers and drunks. Alba, Urie, and all other members of the HAUNT slept that night, all basically passing out with exhaustion.

BBack in the complex, a meeting was held with some of the high ranking generals in the HAUNT. Vi walked in and took a seat, which signaled for the meeting to begin.

Caitlyn stood at the front of the room, next to a large screen. The screen displayedan overhead view of Piltover, with several large, red circles marking the map.

She began to speak on her accented voice. "Welcome. As you may be able to tell, this is a bird's eye view of Piltover. And recently, we have received more intel on the attacks.

"These red circles are potential danger zones. They have a high likelihood of being attacked,whether it be by a bomb or by a direct invasion. Nevertheless, we must prepare ourselves.

"Due to the uncertainty of the attack's location, we can only prepare the HAUNT for it, but not the people themselves. Evacuating the areas will cause the attacks only to be moved to another location, and so on and so forth. For the long run, some sacrifices must be made.

"We have plans to retaliate the attack by sending a secret operation to Zaun to return fire. The same form of attack will be returned. If they bomb us, we will bomb them. If they invade us, we will invade them. We must exchange blow for blow, until an ultimate battle ends everything.

"The purpose of today's meeting is to familiarize all with people and their positions. Well begin with captains."

The screen changed to show the pictures of four people.

"I will be placing Rari, Titanius, Sidewater, and Knear as generals. You four will lead the soldiers on the frontline, and each will be assigned their own troops."

The screen changed again.

"These are our strategists. I have appointed Kanei and Ezreal. You two will be mostly at base, devising strategies to utilize in combat. If need be, you two will fill in for captains."

Another screen change.

"While they are not here, Ziggs, Elmore, and Heimerdinger will be our chief researchers. They will spend their times developing new weaponry to be used in the war."

Another change.

"Lastly, I will appoint my deputy. It may seem quite obvious, but I would not trust anyone with that position more than Vi."

The screen blinked off.

"So. Any objections or questions?"

Silence.

"I expected so. For the time being, you will all need to pitch in on the training until we are able to locate permanent trainers. Your duties will be assigned by tomorrow morning. Until then, this meeting is dismissed."

Everyone stood up and left without a word, with the exception of Vi. Even after everyone had left she sat in her chair, legs propped up against the table.

"I'm worried."

Vi looked up as Caitlyn began to speak again.

"About what?"

"I don't know if some of the people we picked can handle all this. Once the war starts, they need to leave behind everything of their regular life and dedicate solely on winning."

"Mm. I think they're going to be fine."

"And why do you think that?"

"They all seem capable to me. I mean, everyone's got quirks we gotta deal with, but besides that, we're gonna be fine."

"Everybody's got quirks?"

"Everybody."

"Alright then." Caitlyn leaned across the table. "What's mine?"

"You have that habit of tapping your nails against your gun when you're lining up a shot."

"That's it? That's my quirk?"

"Mhm."

"Well then..."

Vi looked at the clock. "It's two in the morning. We better go."

"We better."

Vi began to walk out the door, then, at the last moment, poked her head back inside. "You want a ride?"

Caitlyn looked a little startled. "Uh... Alright."

"Follow me, then."

Vi led Caitlyn to a donor she didn't know existed previously. It was hidden within the shadow of a balcony in the Hive, which made it hard to spot unless you were absolutely concentrated on finding it. Vi opened the door to a small staircase.

The staircase was dark and a little narrow. Small scraping noises could be heard when Vi's gauntlets bumped and scratched against the wall. The staircase seemed to go on for miles as they walked up, until it finally opened up.

The opened room was still dark, until she heard a small clicking noise. A light flickered on overhead to reveal that they were in some sort of a garage. Tools hung from the wall, there was a lift placed on the ground, and what looked like a retractable door on one end.

Caitlyn seemed a little baffled by its existence. "I didn't know this place existed."

"I only found out recently too. I was taking a ride along this area last week until I noticed what looked like a door. I lifted it open, and voila. Look what I found. It must've been like aan old employee's garage or something. Anyways, it's mine now. I had to repaint the whole door to match the walls around it, so no one can see that this exists from the outside. Only I can open and close it."

A motorcycle stood in the center of the garage. It was Vi's preferred mode of transportation, since the Piltover police cars caused her and her gauntlets to become cramped into one seat. Caitlyn had always seen her arrive to a crime scene on it, but she had never ridden on it before."

Vi sat on and looked at Caitlyn. "Get on."

So she did.

The garage door retracted to open up to a small alley. The bike revved and then they were off.

As much as Caitlyn hated to admit it, she actually felt herself become excited as they raced down the city streets. The wind on her face, the people blurring past them, and the sheer speed they were going at caused a sense of adrenaline to course through her veins.

And as much as she enjoyed it, she was also disappointed when they slowed to a halt at Area K. She got off the bike, and Vi got ready to accelerate once more.

Before she left, she turned to Caitlyn and spoke. "If you liked the ride that much I can drive you around more often."

She felt her face turn a slight tinge of red. "It's alright. I prefer the cars, for the bike seems to dangerous."

"It is SO obvious when you lie, Cait. I could see you smiling in the side mirror."

And then she sped off.

The next morning, snow had fallen even more. But the bad weather was on no one's mind, as everyone was excited for the grand annual celebration at the Explorer's Square. Everyone would gather to celebrate that year, have a good time, and get terrible hangovers as one.

As much as Alba wanted to go, she was preoccupied. While her classes were canceled for winter break, she still had work in the morning and training at night. In fact, her entire week was filled with nightly HAUNT training, leaving her exhausted.

But Urie had it worse. Her job lasted for longer hours in comparison to Alba's, and she only had maybe 3-4 hours between her job and the training.

Nevertheless, spirits were still high throughout Piltover.

At 6 PM, every HAUNT member's watch buzzed, delivering their training schedule for the night. Everyone's was fairly similar for now, as their aptitudes had yet to been found, giving them no ideal focus in training.

Once 10 PM struck, all the trains in the old sewer system rolled into action, picking up both eager and exhausted member's and delivering them to the underground facility. Everyone gathered in the Chamber, awaiting orders when Caitlyn appeared at the front, with a small mic attached to the side of her face.

"Welcome to the first day of HAUNT training. Everyone should have received and read their schedules for training. Until further notice, that is your training schedule for now. You will all focus on a topic a day, and once your aptitudes have been decided, then we will place you into intensive training of that subject."

WWhile her words seemed incomplete, her tone indicated that she was finished. As she walked through a corridor on the far end, the crowd dissipated, looking for their training facility.

Alba walked over to Urie."What do you got for today?"

She looked down at her wrist. "Weapons introduction."

"Damn it, I got combat strategizing."

"You know what this is exactly like?"

"School?"

"How'd you know?"

"Because people are going around asking about other people's schedules on the first day, just like school?"

Urie cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed that she her thoughts were so predictable. "Well, we have to go. I'll see you in a bit."

"Right back at you."

Urie walked off into corridor A, the Military corridor. According to yesterday's orientation, this corridor had everything from the weapons training facility to the shooting range, a weapons storage, to a battlefield simulator. It contained more, but she wasn't too intrigued by the rest.

She strutted into a room with about three dozen more people within, all waiting around. There were a few crates up front, but nothing else besides that.

Then, a large figure walked in. It was Titanius, the strict general form yesterday.

"This is weapons introduction. In here, you will learn the basics of all gears you will be utilizing in combat, from guns all the way to knives."

He pulled out a green and silver gadget out of is of the crates and held it up. It looked almost like a giant key with a trigger on it.

"Thisis a standard issue hextech gunblade. It will, under most circumstances, your primary weapon of choice. It excels in both melee and ranged combat, and can suit any form of combat from aerial to underwater.

"I will demonstrate how it works."

He held the gunblade with two hands, one on the trigger and one under the barrel. After a brief second, he fired, blowing a hole through a target on the wall.

Then he pointed to a small protrusion on the top of the gun. "When aiming, always look at what is on the tip of this. Due to the lack of recoil on this model, it will almost always hit the target you spot, given that they are not constantly moving."

"While it is still possible to use the gunblade with only one hand, it is recommended you use both. The steadiness of your aim decreases along with the amount of stress your arm can handle increasing."

He proceeded to explain many other weapons too, from the hextech revolver to a grenade, to the difference between a Krug knife and a Raptor knife( Krugs stabbed better, Raptors slashed better). To Urie, it sounded like he was just rambling for the next several hours, pulling out interesting gadgets now and then. But what caught her attention the most was the last contraption.

Titanius pulled out a small, black case. "In here lies a very volatile device. We call it Timed Death."

Urie's mind snapped back into focus at the name.

"Timed Death is essentially a bomb. Within the case is a small, glass sphere. When you unlock the case, pull it out, and smash the sphere, a countdown begins. 10 seconds after it has been smashed, it detonated, destroying everything within a 100 yard radius. When you enter combat, you will be given one of these, to use as an absolute last resort. If you are cornered down by several enemies with no backup, you use it then. If you've been taken hostage, you use it then. If you are in an irrevocable predicament, you use it then.

"And that concludes weapons training. All of those in this class will be moved onto physical training with weapons at the range. But for tonight, we are done. All of you are dismissed."

Everyone seemed to wake up from a trance at those words, and looked unsure of what to do next. Urie, not being one of them, walked out.

Almost all the members had completed their first day of training and sat around in the Chamber. Urie found Alba leaning against a wall, raising her phone at odd angles.

"What are you doing right now?"

Alba flinched, as she wasn't aware of Urie approaching.

"Oh. I can't get any good reception down here. I guess I am underground, so I really shouldn't expect much. How'd your class go?"

"It was so dull you have no idea. I got the captain guy from yesterday, you know, the scary guy."

"Better than what I got. I got this guy named Ezreal. He's like maybe 5 years older than we are, but he's going around hitting on every girl he could sniff out."

"Did he hit on you too?"

"He was moving around the classroom to do it, so I just made sure I stayed on the opposite end of him at all times."

"Good for you."

"Hey, you going to the thing at the Square tomorrow?"

"We have training again tomorrow."

"I was thinking of skipping it. I haven't missed it once this last seven years, and I don't want to break the tradition."

"You sound old."

"You bet I do. I'm planning on getting old and getting in everyone's ways."

A loud tapping noise silenced all conversations, leaving the room with an eerie silence. Caitlyn stood at the front.

"Now, I am aware of the celebration at the Explorer's Square tomorrow night. I am also aware of how many of our members want to go. So tomorrow, training is canceled. Unless an emergency rises, everyone gets a day off."

When she mentioned that tomorrow was off, a loud cheering abruptly erupted. Everybody was clearly overjoyed at this news, Alba included. Her annual "tradition" would continue at least a year longer.

"And with that, everyone is dismissed. Have a good night, and enjoy yourselves tomorrow."

The excited crowd divided and exited the Chamber in smaller groups, more than ready to get home. Caitlyn turned her mic off and took it off, holding it in her hand as she walked down to her office.

Her office sat in Corridor D, the Organization hall. All meetings were held in this hall in conference rooms, along with a few offices. For security measures to combat spying, the meeting rooms had no windows, no security cameras, three alloy locks, and were built with soundproof walls. They were one hell of a secure meeting room.

Her office, in comparison to what she had above, was shabby. All that sat there was a desk, a chair on each side of the desk, and a computer. Her rifle, instead of being hung on a shelf behind her like her old office, leaned against the wall behind her.

When she entered her office, she saw Vi sitting in her chair, examining her rifle. Caitlyn suddenly grew nervous as she saw those massive gauntlets holding her thin gun.

"Hey, Cait."

"Put down the gun. I don't want you breaking it."

"Fine."

She put it down, her body language displaying disappointed amusement. She leaned back in the chair, arms crossed behind her head. "So did you give them the day off?"

"I did. I couldn't deprive them of a huge celebration like that."

"Congrats. They won't hate you forever."

"Ha."

Caitlyn sat down and placed the mic on her desk, crossing her legs. "Did we get anymore intel?"

"Nope."

"None ever since the last attack?"

"You act like Ekko is some sort of a miracle worker. We're just paying him to do the searching for us."

"How did you find Ekko anyhow? You've never told me."

Vi hesitated, and Caitlyn instantly realized she had hit a nerve. Vi was always assertive, and never was uncertain.

"Back when I used to live in Zaun as a kid, I roamed the streets with him. We got into all sorts of antics together, but we always got out. Except once.

"One day, me, Ekko, and a couple of other kids were stealing from a store. But we got caught while doing it, and the cops that were chasing us shot at us. Only me and Ekko survived. I remember Ekko holding a kid in his arms as he died, trying to save him, but it didn't work.

"Since then, he got obsessed with rewinding time. He got into some shady places and met some strange people. I got scared of him, looking at him like that. So I ran.

"I guess he succeeded in rewinding time. But I think he can only rewind the time around him, noteverybody else. I always kept him in mind in case I needed something from Zaun, and I guess the time was right to call on him."

Vi stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm going home. You want a ride again?"

Now it was Caitlyn's turn to hesitate.

Vi smiled. "Come on, I know you want a ride."

Sighing, Caitlyn stood up and Piltover's Finest walked down the corridor together.

A/N: End of chapter 4, yippee. A little shorter than I'd like, but I thought the ending was a good place to stop the chapter. I realized if I was gonna write a League fanfic, even if it's OC, I still need to have League characters involved. I think last chapter, I mentioned Janna once and that was it -.- also, for those who didn't realize it yet, I'm naming every chapter starting with an F word(except for that one). I'm pretty sure it's a gimmick done to death, but I'm still doing it and you can't stop me :D also, if you haven't figured the chapter name out yet, hint: I wrote this one mostly on Caitlyn, so it must have to do with what she wants to be (!)


	5. The Festival

The giant clock at the Square began its countdown at midnight, ticking down second by second until the new year. People began to slowly gather to the center of the city one by one, even though the main event of the clock hitting 00:00 wasn't for a good while.

 _"The celebration at the end of every year was a tradition developed here several years back. There was an intense mental war with Noxus. When a Noxian official was found dead by a Piltover scout, suspicions arose, creating a nervous atmosphere around both city-states. But when it was decided that the official had died of a petty duel with a Zaunite, the conflict was moved from Piltover to Zaun. The people of Piltover celebrated the end of the anxiety with a massive party at the Explorer's Square, which happened to be at the end of the year. And every year since then, a party has been held there, growing in size annually."_

Urie closed the article she was reading on her phone and looked up. More and more people began to appear from around corners and through doors, each and every one thrilled. People gathered early for the celebration in order to get their hands on the fresh drinks and foods, alongside with maintaining a good spot for the countdown.

Urie was sitting at a small table in a nearby cafe, sipping tea quietly. The cafe was right next to the Square, but it wasn't as bustling as someone would expect. It was peaceful. Everyone minded their own businesses, keeping to themselves. The gentleman over there read his book, the couple in front of the fireplace chatted quietly, and Urie quietly sipped more.

It was nice.

The chimes ringed as another customer walked in. It was a blonde woman, who stood in a brown coat. She walked up to the counter, ordered her coffee, and when she received it, sat down at the table next to Urie's.

Urie took a peek at this woman. She had clear blue eyes, with distinctive facial features. Her skin was a pale, but a pretty kind of pale rather than a sickly. Even as a female herself, Urie had to admit she was beautiful.

But she also had an aura of familiarity with her. Urie had seen her around before somewhere, but she wasn't sure where.

Ten minutes later, she figured it out.

It was Janna, the weatherwoman.

Well, weatherwoman alone wasn't all that Janna did. She also hosted major events, including the annual celebration. She was a famous figure in Piltover, but she was a just sitting there, drinking coffee.

Urie wanted to talk to her, but wasn't sure how to approach the situation. If she pointed out her obvious fame, it would make her seem desperate. She could drop something and pick it up, bumping into her on accident.

Then Janna noticed her too. She turned slightly and looked at Urie out of the corner of her eye. Urie had been staring at her this whole time subconsciously, and she just realized that she was. Embarrassed, she tried to look away but Janna smiled.

"Its fine. It's not like you see a 'celebrity' everyday."

Urie wasn't expecting her to talk to her, which left her short on words.

"Uh... Hi."

"Judging by your look, I'm guessing you recognized me. So, why don't you tell me your name?"

"I'm... Ur..."

"Ur?"

Urie cleared her throat. "Urie."

"How come you're not getting ready for the celebration?"

"I'm not really into big parties like this one."

"So I guess it's not just me."

"You don't like the celebration either? But you host it!"

Janna tapped her fingers on the table as she mindlessly looked out the window. "I'll let you in on this little secret. I might seem all happy and excited for the celebration, but it's a huge pain for me to deal with. There's always drunks trying to... get some from me. Every year since I began hosting, non-stop."

"Why don't you hire bodyguards or something?"

"I would if I could. All the available bodyguards are included in the drunks, and some of those are in the list of people who tried for me."

"So is that why you're here? To get away from all of the partiers?"

"Precisely."

They sat for while, drinking their drinks for a little bit longer.

Janna spoke up once more. "Its nice to be able to confess. We might've met just 20 minutes ago, but you seem easy to trust. And if there's one thing I'm always right about, it's how trustworthy someone is."

"Thanks?"

"Hmm... maybe we could have lunch together sometime. I'd like that."

"Oh...uh, sounds good."

"Great. Here's my number, feel free to call me up anytime."

Janna stood up, dropping her cup into the trash can. "Well, I've got a celebration to host and drunks to repel."

She smiled at Urie, waved, and walked out.

Urie turned back to her drink, and thought to herself " _And that's how you make friends with a celebrity."_

She watched Janna through the window, until she walked out of view.

 _"Well, now I got nothing to do."_

Urie stood up, brushing her lap as she did. The chimes rang behind her as she walked out into the frosty streets. She pulled her scarf up to cover her face, then proceeded to walk away from the Square, back to her place. She wasn't planning on doing anything that day, so she could do nothing in the comfort of her home.

The door unlocked, and she walked inside. George was sleeping at the foot of her bed, where she dropped her bag and coat. Normally, she would've laid on the bed and slept the time from now to the broadcast of the countdown. But recently, she has taken to sleeping on the couch, ever since the last DMS attack on her bed, while filled it to the brim with bad memories. So Urie laid on the couch instead, closed her eyes, and listened to the low volume of the TV.

Meanwhile, Alba had woken up extra early that day, in order to secure a good spot to see the countdown clock.

If you were going to secure a spot early for the celebration, there was a few things you had to do. You had to, first of all, get something to mark your spot, and to warn people from approaching it. Every year, she used a old traffic come she painted an alarming shade of acid green to do just that.

You also needed a few other things like food and water, but, for a veteran like Alba, this was no big concern.

With an overly stuffed pack, Alba headed out. The monorails would be jam packed with other people heading to the celebration, so the best way to get there was by calling up a private cab. She had found an ad earlier that day for one, and she had just called it in half an hour ago.

As if on cue, the moment she walked out of her building, a small cab pulled up. Well, it was sort of a cab. It looked more like a dingy old plane, as it seemed to float about a foot above the ground. Alba wasn't sure what to call it, maybe a flying cab?

A compartment in the back clunked open, and she, with much heaving, dumped the bag inside. Panting, she clambered into the back of the flying cab, inspecting the interior. The inside was nothing like a cab. It was more like the interior of a small plane. The driver's seat looked like an authentic pilot's seat, and there were Mich more complex controls than the inside of a car.

" _Maybe I should've taken my own car._ "

No, that wasn't smart. If you took your own car to the celebration, chances are, it would get vandalized or stolen.

A crackly voice surprised her. It sounded like it was bbeing spoken through a old radio. "Welcome to the Copter Cab Service, where can I take you today?"

"Um... The Square?"

"Okey doke."

The flying cab began to propel forwards, jerking every time they took a turn. Alba leaned a little too the front to take a closer look at the driver. It was a short little guy, with a bushy mustache which covered half his face. He wore aviator gear from the top to bottom, including a pair of goggles. There was a small license hanging from the ceiling of the cab, which read "Corki, ROFLC Pilot".

And this raised some questions for Alba. "What's ROFLC?"

Corki chuckled. "Found my license, didn't ya? It stands for the Reconnaissance Operation Front Line Copter, a small troop of pilots who man planes designed to infiltrate the backline of enemy forces."

"So you're a veteran?"

"Indeed."

"Did you fight in any big wars?"

"A few."

"So how come you own a cab company now?"

"I only do at this time of year. I get to meet interesting folks while getting paid. It's a win-win."

"Ah."

"So I'm guessing you're going for the celebration?"

"Yeah, I've been going since 7 years ago, and haven't missed it once since."

"Good for you, kid."

The cab slowed and halted to a stop. They were at the Square.

"Here's your stop. It'll be 60 gold."

"Here you go." She paid him promptly.

"Go have some fun today for me."

"Will do."

She hopped out of the cab and pulled the pack out the back. The cab zoomed off as Alba began to tug the bag as close to the clock as she could get. After a struggle which pushed her to her physical limits, she managed to reach a spot twenty feet away from the clock.

15:00 left.

Alba smiled, pulled out her come, and set it down. She began to wander and explore the crowd, letting new faces and waiting on the clock.

That morning, Caitlyn was polishing her rifle. When she raised it up, it shined underneath the light. She stated down the scope, focused on the doorknob of her room. She could see inside the lock, down to every last bump inside it.

She placed it back atop the shelf, satisfied.

Today was the day of the celebration. She wasn't very excited about it herself, as every year, after it, there was much vandalism and theft she had to clean up after. While she could simply be present at the celebration to limit everything, that would result in getting her a bad rep. A boring one, at the least.

She sighed and looked out the window at the lake. The trees surrounding it were weighed down with snow, slowly slumping. Children played in the snow, laughing as they ran about. People walked around the lake, admiring the view it presented.

A knock on the door turned her attention from the outside to back inside. The door swung open and Vi entered.

"I shouldn't have given you a spare key for my house. You keep barging in without even telling me."

"It's called barging in for a reason. You want me to call you every time I'm around, then?"

"I'd appreciate it."

"Its a deal."

"Mm."

"So you're not going to the Square?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You know me. I don't care for loud things."

Caitlyn stood, indicating she wanted to leave her room. Vi, reading this, walked out, and Caitlyn trailed along behind her.

"So you got any plans for today?" Vi asked.

"I was thinking of going back into the complex to work some finer details out for the HAUNT."

"Look at you. Always working. Why not take a break today?"

"I wish I could. But when something dangerous like the attack is around the corner, I can't relax and keep myself distracted from it."

"I guess."

"Any plans on your side?"

"Might go to the celebration. Why do they keep calling it that anyways?"

"Calling what?"

"The celebration. It's so wordy for a party. Why not give it an official name?"

"Did you have one in mind?"

"How does Festivus sound?"

"It seems way to serious a name for a party. Why not just Festival?"

"The Festival. It does have a ring to it."

"Well, I'm off to the fun at the 'Festival' for me."

"Will do, partner."

Caitlyn stepped out of her house alongside Vi. While Vi veered off to the right, she headed left to the monorails. She stepped inside, arriving at the complex a long ride later. Using a special key card, she opened the door and entered.

Nobody was inside. At least, on this floor. Walking into the elevator, she hit the B3 key, sending the elevator downwards underground. The moment the door opened, she was met by an intense clicking noise.

Elmore was typing away madly. It didn't seem like he left his office over the last few days, maybe three at the least. His office reached the absolute pinnacle of a mess, and you couldn't take a step without worrying about breaking something beneath your feet.

"Hello, Elmore "

He replied without looking up at her. "Morning."

"It's noon."

"I suppose it is."

"So how is the housing programming going?"

"Almost done. Just need to wrap up the housing system's internal clock to match all the programming together."

"Great. Report to me when you finish."

She got a grunt for an answer.

Caitlyn walked out of the office, glad to be somewhere she could walk in peace again. The empty hive caused her footsteps to echo, creating an eerie feeling. Walking down a corridor, she walked into her office and closed the door behind her.

Sitting in her chair, Caitlyn began to work quietly.

10:00 PM.

Excited chatter grew even more excited as the clock ticked down to 02:00. Alba was amongst the hyped people. She had joined all the standard activities, including meeting new people, tasting strange homemade recipes, and pushing drunks out of the way. While most people did, Alba didn't drink at the celebration. She would've loved to join the others, but it just wasn't worth waking up in some strange guy's bed.

The people began to gather back towards the clock tower, watching up with shining eyes. Cheers and music rang around the Square. Janna cheerfully talked, televising the annual party. People ran past the cameras, getting their quick moments of fame.

11:00 PM.

The clock turned from hours to minutes, with less than an hour remaining of the year. Snow began to lightly fall once again, sprinkling the bricks in a fine, white layer. Drunk snowball fights ensued, and those sober has to flee for cover behind one another. Raucous laughter drowned out all other noise, filling the Square with a loud hum.

In her underground office, Caitlyn closed a folder on her computer, completing another batch of files. She had spent the entire day filing all the recruits' informations one by one. She had memorized everyone, which seemed like a necessity as a leader.

One name a track about in particular. It was a name known as Davi. It belonged to a girl, around the age of Urie. She had been selected due to her massive technological knowlrdge, especially in the field of computers. She had had a few marks on her record, such as a few cases where she hacked into government databases. Those hacks were never initiated with a malicious intent, but the Piltover government had been keeping a close eye on her.

And so would Caitlyn.

She was nearly finished with her work for the day, only needing to finish one special patch of files on her computer. These were the specially marked people, including Davi. Specially marked people had a troubled past, or were monitored closely by the government. These could be ex-convicts, people stepping on the fine line of illegal activity, and people accused of acts such as treason and espionage in the past. She had to go through the two dozen or so files, marking those especially risky as dangerous.

The first few names passed by without too much issue, one of them being Davi. These marked records were mostly insignificant, and she passed over things such as bar fights and petty theft. These could be overlooked.

Then she saw a few serious ones. There were ones related with grand robbery to murder, and some ex-convicts, most of whom were related to the big charges. These people had to be under watch at all times.

One last name caught her attention. Gnell. Harvard Gnell, a former technician. He was arrested and jailed for dealing lethal explosives to shady groups, including ones from Zaun. Gnell had made these himself, and these were almost military grade explosives. She made a note to have him covered by a guard at all times.

She looked to the clock. 10 minutes before the countdown ended. Closing all her work for the day, she opened a link which broadcasted the live stream of the 'Festival'. Everyone was gathered around the tower, huddling as one, excited entity.

5 minutes remaining. The cheers grew louder by second, creating an exhilarating aura, even for those viewing through a screen.

At the Square, Alba suddenly had an urge to use the bathroom. As close as the countdown was, she didn't want to "release" herself at such a critical moment. She could just run quickly to the nearest building, take care of it, and sprint back just on time.

4 minutes remaining.

Urie looked sleepily into the TV, waiting for the countdown to be over so she could sleep once more. The loud noises from the Square did a decent job at keeping her mildly awake, as she nodded off now and then.

3 minutes remaining.

Vi looked at the tower. She stood off to the side of the Square, a drink in one hand. She wasn't completely able to fulfill her promise to Caitlyn about having fun for her, but she damn sure tried. At least this year, she ha no regrets to sit on. It was a good year.

2 minutes remaining.

The crowd, acting as one, began counting down loudly. They could all count, for the time being, at least, and with it gave them hope. A hope for another year of progress and success in Piltover, another year of happiness spread amongst the citizens.

30 seconds remaining.

The clock began to beep clearly into the mob, counting down alongside the people. Once the clock hit that 00:00, it would mark a new start for all. It would be as new as the footprints in the snow.

Ten seconds remaining.

"Ten!"

Beep.

"Nine!"

Beep.

"Eight!"

Beep.

"Seven!"

Beep.

Alba walked out of the building, clearly late. All her hard work of leaving that early and everything was to go down the drain. She sighed, disappointed she couldn't contain herself a little bit longer.

"Three!"

Beep.

"Two!"

Beep.

"One!"

 _Boom._

A/N: Lots of things to talk here, so I'm listing them off. A) my apologies for taking long to write something this short. I'm a little disappointed with myself too, but I have been dealing with a lot of things lately, and my schedules become jam packed suddenly recently. Also, it was really tricky to decide how to go about this chapter, AND I lacked a good muse for this one. B) kudos to anyone who got the Seinfeld reference, bonus points to you. C) since this chapter was so short and kinda uneventful, I will do my best to make the next one nice and interesting. Might take a while, depending on whether or not I can get some ideas rolling. D) broke 100 views, woot woot ^^ E) I've been working on another something off to side, something SAO related, so might release that sometime in the near future. Maybe.


	6. Fire in the Night

The Square exploded into a fireball, scorching all that stood in its way. The cheers of joy turned into screams of agony. Flames leaped from one person to another, leaving a burning frenzy on The Square.

Alba laid on the ground, barely conscious. The explosion has injured her along with all the others in the Square. Luckily for her, she was a relatively far distance away, but the shockwave still knocked her down.

She could barely see; her vision was very blurred. Alba could just barely make out the fire and the terrorized people. All her sense were gone, and she could only feel pain.

She tried to reach forwards to grab a lamppost, but an intense shock of pain reverberated through her. Alba cried out in pain as she reached her arm out in a vain attempt to grab the post again. Her fingers brushed it this time. She dug her fingers into the ground and pushed herself forwards, then reached once more. She could grab it this time, and she struggled to pull herself up into a sitting position.

She looked out into the fire. It has died down for the most part, but made sure it ravaged everything and everyone that was in its way. Alba knew, on the inside, that only few would survive.

Looking down, she saw her leg. It was an absolutely horrifying sight for her. It was clearly broken, for if it wasn't, then it wouldn't be bent forwards at the angle it was. Every time she tried to move, the pain radiated from her leg. All she could do was sit around.

She heard a loud crack above her. She saw sparks fly overhead, and flinched. A groaning creak resonated from the same spot as the sparks. A sign was falling.

Alba tried to pull herself out of harms way, but her mangled leg stopped her from getting anywhere. When she realized it was too late. She closed her eyes and braced herself.

The first thing she felt was a huge burst of pain, followed by a slightly less intense, yet still strong, pain. The first thing she heard was a loud crack as something inside her broke. And the first thing she saw were several black spots, and not long after, complete darkness.

She wasn't aware of how much time had passed, but when she focused her attention again, she was inside some sort of a medical ward, her entire body in a cast, with the exception of her right arm. A doctor stood next to her bed, scribbling.

She tried to speak, but she could only manage a grunt. The doctor heard it and looked at her.

"Good afternoon."

Alba gave talking a second try. "How long was I out?"

"Couple of hours."

"Couple of hours?"

"Yes. The medical crew arrived later and transported all the survivors here, after putting the fire out."

"So how am I?"

"Not too great. You broke four ribs, both legs, along with one arm. And that's why we placed you in a body cast."

She pondered this for a moment. "Why did the Square explode?"

"I'm afraid that's a question I don't have an answer to."

"So at least the fire died out?"

"No. The Square was extinguished, but only the Square. Streets around it are still burning, and the fire might have broken into underground utilities. So the damage is yet to be fully determined."

A nurse called for the doctor, and he left, leaving Alba with unanswered questions. The explosion couldn't have been a malfunction in the clock, because it wouldn't have exploded so violently. Maybe a spark hit a gas tank? No, it still wouldn't have exploded as bad, and there we no sources of gas near the center, where the explosion originated from.

If the underground utilities were burned, the power would go out. Last time she heard, the power from the PAC power plant was distributed through underground power lines. A few major buildings had some backup generators, but besides that, the city would run dry of power.

She had no idea. Her mind was still feeling slow from exhaustion, so Alba decided to ponder her questions later tomorrow, once she was done sleeping.

When the Square exploded, Urie was shocked awake. Even though the Square was a good few miles away, she could still hear the "boom" of the explosion. The broadcast of the celebration turned black, and she guessed the cameras were destroyed.

The watch she had placed on the table in front of her buzzed moments after the explosion.

"6 _AM_ _, Sheriff's, tomorrow"_

Unsurprised, Urie put the watch back down. She looked out her window and saw a menacing red glow from behind buildings, which she assumed was the fire. A worry began to settle into her mind, as she imagined the casualty, and the helpless people burning.

The helpless people.

A sudden panic overwhelmed her as her breath quickened. She ran to grab her keys and shut the door to her suite behind her. The elevators were too slow, so she sprinted down the stairs, leaping down the last few steps of each staircase. At the last one, she tripped, falling down the stairs, and bashed her head into the ground.

She staggered forwards, bleeding from her temple. She ignored all the pain and began to run down the street to the Square. Adrenaline pulsed inside her, and she turned every corner at a precarious speed. Blood dripped from her face, leaving a small trail behind her.

Another wave of panic hit her when she realized Alba was at the Square. Her eyes narrowed against the cold wind, and she sprinted closer and closer to the Square with every step. The red glow was growing brighter and brighter.

The burning Square loomed before her. The fire was a monster, roaring and consuming everything in its way. Charred remains could be seen within the fire, along with pained screams of burning victims.

Urie wanted to run forwards and help, she wanted to save them. Her feet refused to move as she looked forth, and she began to grow more anxious with every second.

 _Hi._

She put her hands around her ears and screamed, then toppled over in the snow.

The burning night passed, and the morning rose from the ashes. While most of the civilians stayed indoors that morning, fearing for their lives, the HAUNT members walked to their respective stations and rode the underground rails to the complex. Significantly less people were present in the Chamber, but it was enough for the meeting to begin.

Caitlyn stood upfront with her mic ready. "As you may well know, we are gathered here due to last night's incident. For those unaware of it, there was a massive, unexplained explosion at the Explorer's Square during the celebration.

"While the Piltover government is hypothesizing it as an unfortunate gas leak, I think we all know what it actually was. Last night's explosion was the first attack launched by Zaun.

"All HAUNT members will be required to move into the housing facility here by midnight. Tomorrow, training will begin officially. As far as those you are related to, such as family members and lovers, they must not know about this. They will not be permitted to move into the housing facility. For those who must know, pets, as long as they are contained, will be allowed.

"Any questions?"

She was met with stony silence. Everyone was grim, and was ready to prepare.

"Dismissed."

The group scattered, going to their desired locations. Caitlyn, rather than walking to her office, walked to the housing complex. She could hear something clicking away from the A sector, behind the door labeled 18. She opened the door and walked inside.

A18 was a bedroom alright, with one difference. It had the bed, a small closet, a table, and a small screen built into the wall. The one difference was that all the furniture was pushed to one side of the room. The other side was filled with a large desk and computer monitors from the top to bottom. A girl sat in a chair, typing away.

"Davi."

Davi spun around in her chair, facing Caitlyn.

"I need you to go to the Piltover medical center and tell HAUNT members of today's announcement."

"Just patch it to them."

"The people I need you to go talk to have an outdated software on their watches, preventing me to send them the information."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are. You're the only person we can spare right now."

"Send someone else."

"You're going to have to go "

"..."

"Here's a list of people you need to talk to."

"Fine."

Grudgingly, Davi snatched the slip of paper from Caitlyn's hand, and the sheriff turned and walked away. After memorizing a few names, she crumpled and threw the paper away in frustration, awkwardly picking it back up when she realized she didn't memories every name. What a waste of time today would be.

She walked out of her room, frustrated at Caitlyn. Caitlyn clearly knew her dislike of having to associate herself with others, and how she preferred being alone. Davi had never enjoyed talking to others, and especially didn't enjoy others talking to her. She only talked when it was absolutely necessary, and even then, she spoke with as little words as possible.

As she entered the cold outside, she began to wonder about her inherent dislike of socializing. She was sick a lot as a child, so she was barely at school. Since Davi couldn't make friends when she was sick, she grew up without developing any good social skills. And thanks to it, she failed to interact with people properly. She never played with the other kids in elementary school. She always stood outside during lunches in middle school. And in high school, people avoided her, bewildered by her icy personality. Several guys had tried to hit on her back then too, but a cold stare scared them off every time.

And since she wasn't a people person, she turned to computers. Computers didn't talk to her randomly, and she had no need to talk to them. At first, she became addicted to video games, spending countless hours in front of a monitor. When some of the games began frustrating her, she looked towards learning code, programming, and hacking to try and edit those games. Soon, she was developing her own software, programming controllers to man little, robotic mice, and once she accidentally hacked into a government database, and got busted for it. The punishment wasn't too bad, just a small 1000 gold fine and she was out.

And when the whole Viktor business came around, Caitlyn had reached out to Davi, offering a spot to work in the technical department for the HAUNT. When she was promised her own place underground, she gladly took the offer. Nobody would bother her underground as much as they did above. Until earlier today.

She was startled when she bumped into someone. Davi wasn't aware of her surroundings; she was too distracted by her theorizing. She muttered a quick "Sorry" and tried to walk away, but the person she bumped grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around.

A large man stared down at her with an intimidating expression. His stern face was accompanied with stark white hair, giving him a very scary aura. Davi froze.

"And who do you think you are?"

"..."

She couldn't reply, not because she didn't want to, but because she could not bring herself to answer the question.

"You can bump into me and just walk away, can't you? Do you have a clue as to who I am?"

"..."

"I am Captain Titanius. I've seen you around at the complex before, but I'm guessing you haven't seen me, have you? Of course not, always cooped up in your hidey hole."

"..."

"Maybe some discipline will teach you some manner for once, wouldn't it?"

Titanius began to raise his hand and Davi just stared, since she had no experience in a physical confrontation before.

"Hey!"

Titanius looked up, annoyed. Vi walked forth, past Davi, staring directly into Titanius. Both of them seemed to have no intention of backing down. They seemed to dislike one another very much, as she could see Titanius gritting his teeth and Vi clenching her fists tightly.

"What brings you around, Vi?" Titanius asked in voice trying to hold in rage.

"Just walking by til I heard you yelling. Why don't you just let her be? She just bumped into you."

"This girl needs to learn her some respect. But of course, you'd defend her. After all, you need to act some respect so you can sit in Caitlyn's lap all day."

Vi seemed to become even angrier at this. "Why don't you just walk away, so we don't have to see how badly I can crush your skull?"

Titanius narrowed his eyes, clearly weighing the risk with the reward. He turned and walked off, disappearing behind a corner. Vi seemed to settle down a bit when she saw this, and looked down at Davi.

"Sorry about that. Titanius is one strict guy. If something looks wrong, he needs tobeat it until it's right."

"..."

"Oh. Forgot you don't like to talk. So, where you going?"

Vi didn't see her own contradiction. Sighing on the inside, Davi quietly said something.

"What?"

"Hospital."

"Is something wrong?"

"Caitlyn told me to."

"Can't argue with that, I guess. Come on, I'll walk you there. Gotta make sure Titanius isn't snooping around to ambush you."

They walked in silence together. And since everything quieted down, she could think again.

Her tendency to avoid interactions had always drawn concerns from adults when she was younger. Some believed that she was living in a fantasy world and didn't see anyone else, some theorized that she might have a mental disability. Even after several tests determined nothing wrong, adults still seemed disturbed by her isolated personality.

"Here's the hospital."

Davi looked up at the giant building in front of her. It stood a tall 30 stories high, and covered pretty much the entire side of a street. She was familiar with this place, since she as in and out of here on a biweekly basis as a kid.

"Bye."

"See you around, kid."

As Vi strutted off, Davi walked into the hospital itself. The inside was crowded, filled with worried visitors and hurried doctors and nurses. A huge line presented itself in front of her, and it was the only way to get to the reception. Quietly, she stood in the back of the line, and began to wait.

The line seemed to last forever. She stood around for maybe an hour or so until it was finally her turn at the desk. A middle-aged man greeted her.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

She handed the wrinkled slip of paper to him, and when he saw the official Sheriff's mark at the corner of it, he looked back up.

"Would you like to know where these patients are?"

She nodded slightly. The man began to look names up in the computer, then proceeded to write the room numbers down. She looked down at the first one: 415. Sighing, she took the list and headed to the listed rooms.

She went through several different rooms on several different floors and saw several different injuries. One guy had his head cracked open, another broke their spine, another list three limbs. Nevertheless, they all received the same information.

The next room listed was room 603. It would be on the sixth floor, three doors to the right. The elevator doors slid open, and she stepped out. This was the mental care unit, and Davi wasn't particularly excited to find out who waited for her. Opening door 603, she peeked inside.

The room was dark at first, and the lights were all off. She clicked the light switch on, and saw the standard equipment: a bed, a small machine next to it monitor patient conditions, a small TV to keep the patient entertained, and a small bathroom off to the side. Everything was the same as when she was hospitalized several years back, with a difference. There were shackles on the bed, and she supposed they were there to hold down paranoid patients. In this case, the shackles were loosely hanging off the sides of the bed.

A girl laid on the bed, completely still. She didn't react to Davi entering her room unannounced and flicking the lights on. She laid in a fetal position, which made her seem very small. When Davi walked to the other side of the bed to see her face, her eyes were open, but blank. Staring at nothing.

So she wasn't asleep. Maybe she was in a state of shock? Trauma? Davi wasn't a mental health expert, so it wasn't for her to decide what she was in. The one thing she could guess was that the girl was completely oblivious to her surroundings.

She wasn't sure what to do. If she told the girl the information, she probably wouldn't hear it and wouldn't know. But Davi couldn't just straight up leave either, because then the girl still wouldn't know anything.

The girl was beginning to creep her out. The completely still body, and the dead eyes allmade her look almost like a mannequin made of flesh. There was one thing she could think of that would work for now.

Looking through a cabinet in the bathroom, she found a small pen and a pad of paper. She assumed they were there so patients could label their pills. Taking the pen, she wrote out a note explaining everything she needed to on there. Once finished, Davi placed the pen and paper in the cabinet, closed it, then walked over the the girl and placed the note on her head. If she ever work up, she'd notice the paper fall off of her and she'd read it.

Davi turned the lights off and closed the door behind her, disturbed by what she saw. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and proceeded onto another room.

She spent another hour or so poking around the hospital, visiting other conscious patients and speaking the bare necessities to them. And then there was one room remaining: 422.

The fourth floor as the physical care unit, where people who broke bones and whatnot stages at. The elevator door opened once more, and she headed to room 422. Opening the door, she walked in.

Compared to all the other rooms, this one seemed a bit more... lively. First of all it was a dual room, with two patients in one room. A girl, fully conscious this time, laid in her bed, everything but an arm and her head I'm a cast. She was pointing the remote at the TV, flicking through every single channel while humming. There was also a different patient on the other end of the room, also fairly energetic. The other patient didn't seem to be as injured as the girl in the front, but she also seemed fairly energetic.

The first girl, a blonde, turned to face her. "Hi!"

"..."

"What's up?"

"..."

"Can you not talk?"

"...I can."

"Good. So, what's up?"

"Caitlyn sent me."

"Oh, it's all HAUNT stuff, isn't it? Well, come on. Have a seat."

She pointed her one able arm to the foot of her bed, where a little bit of space for someone to sit was available.

"I'm good."

"No, you aren't until you sit. So go on. Sit!"

Davi already was starting to become a little annoyed with her, as she was too friendly for her tastes. Sitting down, she looked down at her feet.

"I'm Alba."

"I know."

"Wait. How?"

"Caitlyn told me."

"Ah. So. What so you need to tell me?"

"Everyone needs to move into the complex by midnight."

"I can't move. So how exactly do I do that?"

Davi hadn't really thought about that. She wasn't sure how to answer that.

"..."

"You don't know, do you?"

"No."

"Ask Caitlyn then. I'm sure she knows what to do."

So Davi called Caitlyn. She wouldn't pick up the first time, so Davi called again, and this time, Caitlyn did pick up.

"Hello, Davi. Did you finish?"

"Almost."

"So did you call to tell me you're almost done?"

"No."

"So why did you?"

"What do we do with people who can't move?"

"Oh. Well, I didn't think about that. Let's see... I'll call the hospital, and we can have the patients transported out. We'll send people to their apartments, and we can use a camera to have the patients guide the people around and pick out all they need."

"Ok."

"Is that all?"

She was about to say yes, until something came back to her. "I saw a girl."

"I'm talking to one right now too. What's the point?"

"She was strange. Almost passed out, but still awake, kind of."

"Hmm... If she's part of the HAUNT, then we'll have to transport her too, but we can retrieve her things later."

"Ok."

"Is that it then?"

Yes."

"Goodnight, Davi."

Startled, Davi walked up to the window and opened the blinds. It really was a night.

"Goodnight, Caitlyn."

"So your name is Davi, isn't it?"

She jumped when she heard Alba speak. She turned to look at her, and the blonde looked fairly satisfied with herself. Irritated, Davi spoke up.

"How much did you hear?"

"All of it. Not a single word left out."

Davi had never met a more annoying person than her before. This Alba girl's need to pipe up at every opening, her constant talking, her lack of care for privacy, and worst of all, she had no idea she was any of this.

"Then I can leave."

"Aww, already."

"Yes."

"I wish you'd stick around longer."

She stopped at the door. "And why should I?"

"I'm lonely."

"You have a person right next to you."

"She's sleeping."

"And?"

"That's it. She's sleeping."

"I'm leaving."

Davi walked out the door.

"...Bye."

She stopped. Alba simply had wanted someone to keep her company, and Davi rejected the request. But the blonde was one of the very few people who seemed to not notice her icy personality. All she wanted was to have someone around.

" _I can't believe I'm doing this._ "

Davi, taking a deep breath, walked back inside. Alba looked positively delighted at the sight of her walking in.

"You're back!"

"..."

"Come on, sit where you sat."

Davi sat down at the foot of the bed, and Alba began to talk again.

"Did you dye your hair?"

"No."

"Really? I've never seen someone with that hair color before. It's pretty."

"Thanks?"

"You're absolutely welcome."

Alba chattered on for a good while, and Davi listened and responded briefly for a good while. After an hour or so passed, Davi pulled out a laptop from a small bag she carried around, and powered it on. Alba strained her neck and peeked at the monitor.

"What are you looking at?"

She didn't blame Alba for asking. Anyone in their right minds would find what she was looking at as questionable.

Davi had a window open on her laptop, which showed what looked like a desk. On it was a small gray thing walking about, something trailing behind it.

"A project I've been working on."

"What is it?"

"A mouse."

"A mouse?"

"A robot mouse. I control it from here. For now."

"Do you have plans for it later?"

"I want to make it independent. So that it can move without me controlling it."

"Fifteen words without pausing. Congrats, that's a record."

"What?"

"You started saying more than three words at a time, so I began counting."

"Oh. It's late, I need to go."

"Alrighty. I need to sleep to. Bye!"

"Bye."

Davi turned the lights off and closed the door behind her. As hard as it was to believe, even for Davi, she had become attached to Alba in a matter of hours. Her personality, which she found annoying and repetitive earlier, had become cheerful and teeming with curiosity to her ears. What had grown between her and Alba was almost like they were...

...friends.

A/N: my apologies for another late chapter. Thanksgiving has taken a big toll on me, and I didn't find a lot of time to write between food and relatives. As for some other stuff: chapter 5 actually attracted the most views since its upload, a whopping 75, almost double my total views previously. I also popped in another protagonist for my own sake, since two (three wit Cait)just wasn't enough for me I guess. If I get late with my next one, go check out my one other story, and I might upload some extra stories I have sitting around(one for now lol) also, if anyone was wondering, my profile pic is what I imagine Urie to look like.


	7. Friends, For Now

Davi closed the door to her room behind her. Dropping her bag of her desk, she fell face first onto her bed, her face red with embarrassment. She had let a quirky little girl get to her, and she sat there, actually spending time with her. What had gotten over her, she had no clue, but she was still embarrassed by it.

Turning over, she stared into the blank ceiling. The dull white color always calmed her down for some reason. Maybe it was the sheer simplicity of it, maybe it was the fact it didn't hold any distractions, allowing her to think.

If Davi remembered human interactions correctly, Alba would now consider her as, what they called, a "friend". And the other thing Alba would think was that the feeling was mutual, that Davi saw her as a friend too. She had to fix this error. Next time she saw Alba around, she'd tell her about the mistake. Or even better, if her watch software was updated, she could just patch it to her.

Nothing complicated.

That night, the complex infirmary was filled with people transported from hospitals. Hospital beds were consistently rolled in and out of the halls, creating an incessant hum of wheels turning throughout the night.

Alba laid uncomfortably in her cast, trying to twiddle one thumb unsuccessfully. She simply resorted to spinning a pen with her one able hand.

Earlier, some guy brought little screen up to her, where it showed a camera feed of the inside of her house. She was forced to pick out everything she needed (and a few things she wanted), and they were sent back to the complex. He also told her she would be sleeping in room A18, and that she'd be bunking with someone.

More time passed as she grew tired of spinning the pen and dropped it. Regretting this decision minutes later, she began to look around for something else to spin. During her intense search, a nurse came by with two needles. Alba looked up, curious.

The nurse began to speak. "These shots are to accelerate bone regeneration. As long as you don't have an allergic reaction to the substance, then you should be out of your cast tomorrow morning."

"What if I am allergic?"

"You shouldn't be. We've divided the infirmary into sections, an allergic side and a non allergic side. You're on the non allergic. But, in case you are wondering, allergic reactions can range from swelling to liver failure."

"Oh."

"So, I'm just going to poke this through your cast, and tomorrow morning, we can cut you out of there."

The nurse set both needles on top of a small table next to Alba's bed. She took one, and inserted it into the cast at the side of her hip. Alba could feel a small sting, but nothing more. The nurse took the other one and stuck it into her left arm, then pulled it out.

"There we go. You might be a little sore for the next day or two, but you'll be fine. Oh, and about your mangled leg, that might be a little more than the drug can handle, so we might need to give you crutches to go about on. Well, try and get some sleep."

"Aight."

The nurse began to walk away, and Alba tried to get comfortable. This wasn't the first time she had broken bones before. It was the second. The first was when an when a kid who was above average in weight fell off the top of a playground castle and landed on her when she was 8, and he had landed right on her leg, breaking it. She could still remember the cracking noise, along with the shock she was in for the next few hours.

Fun times.

In a small, secluded portion of the infirmary, Urie awoke from her DMS attack. She wasn't sure as to how she got there, but there was a note next to her pillow.

" _everyone needs to move to complex by midnight, bring your things"_

So was this where she was? The complex? This didn't look very much like it, surrounded by curtains and next to people who were huddling in fear or laughing deliriously. Clearly unsure of what to do next, Urie sat up, trying to ignore the small ringing pain in her head. There was what sounded like a small commotion outside, with people shouting and a lot of footsteps. Standing up, she opened the curtains, peering through a small opening.

There were hospital beds everywhere, with people of varying degrees of injuries lying in them. Doctors and nurses were scrambling about, getting from one patient to another. Urie slowly walked out, and tapped a doctor on the shoulder.

The doctor turned his head, looking a little surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be in the mental unit?"

"I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Hmm... come over here, I want to do some basic checkups on you before I can dismiss you out of here."

Sighing, Urie walked over to a chair and sat in it. The doctor did all the basic things, from peering into her mouth to sticking a thermometer in her ear. The doctor nodded his approval, and Urie stood up again, ready to leave.

Except one thing was on her mind. "Where do I go?"

The doctor pointed to a man in the corner, who was holding a screen up for a patient.

"Thanks."

She walked over to the man, who was reading numbers from a clipboard. When he turned to move onto another patient, he noticed Urie.

"Where do I go?"

The man looked down at his clipboard. "Full name."

"Urie Cherub."

He flipped the paper over, then pointed to a line near the top. "Room B09. You'll be bunking with someone."

"Who is it?"

"Girl named Lili."

"Thanks for the help "

"You got it." He said carelessly.

Urie walked out the infirmary door, letting a hospital bed pass by her. If she was to get to B09, she would have to walk to the housing area, then to hall B.

After a generous amount of searching and asking around, she managed to locate hall B, and room number nine. Anxious, she opened the door.

The inside was relatively nice and tidy. It wasn't the absolute incarnation of cleanliness, but it wasn't bad. It was sure as hell cleaner than Alba's place. There was a slightly cluttered desk and a messy bed, but nothing was strewn across the floor, and the bed only looked messy when she realized someone had slept in it very recently.

A girl sat on the bed, looking right at her. Urie took a second to recognize that the girl, as she presumed was Lili, had quietly been looking at her the whole time she was inspecting her new room. When Lili noticed her awkwardness, she smiled.

"Don't worry, if you want, I'll leave you alone."

Lili had wide blue eyes, very much like Alba, except they were a much darker shade of blue. She had short, auburn hair, and wore a blue shirt that was too big for her. From what Urie could see, Lili wasn't wearing anything besides the shirt, but the shirt alone was big enough to cover everything important.

Lili stuck her hand out. "I'm Lilith, Lili for short."

"I'm Urie." Urie stuck her hand out in response and shook Lili's. And the awkwardness resumed.

"So where do I sleep?" She inquired.

"Here, let me show you."

Lili stood up and turned to face the wall her bed was built into. Upon close inspection, Urie noticed a small groove in the wall, which Lili placed a hand on. She pulled, and another small bedframe and mattress appeared, hanging off the wall. Reaching underneath the frame, Lili held onto some thing Urie couldn't quite see. It was a small iron rod, and it extended as she pulled it out, propping the bed up off the ground. Once Lili had pulled another rod into place, she stood back.

"Tada."

Lili created a bunk bed within a minute, one above another. When she noticed Urie just staring at it, she spoke up again.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to sleep on the top. I'm claustrophobic, so it's uncomfortable to sleep stuck between two beds. Is that ok?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, Urie."

Lili stepped on the lower bed and climbed above, sitting with her legs hanging down. She beckoned for Urie to hop into what was her bed.

Urie sat down on the lower bunk, which was surprisingly comfy for looking so old. She took her coat off and hung it on a chair, then laid down. Lili jumped from her bed, turned the lights off, then climbed back up.

Urie was out in a matter of minutes, exhausted from being in the infirmary for so long. Lili, not being able to see Urie, had no idea.

"So where did you use to live?"

When she was met with sleepy silence, she rolled onto her side, slightly embarrassed. Maybe it was better not to talk about where they used to live. After all, Lili wasn't proud of her past by any means.

A clock alarm rang, waking Davi. It was 6 AM, and she was still tired. She normally woke up at 5:30 and began working on her little mouse project ( ) early, making a little bit of headway everyday. But today, after last night, she just wasn't feeling it. Unplugging the clock, she laid in the dark silently, face buried in a pillow.

It wasn't something that should've bothered her much, the fact that she let someone approach and talk with her easily. But she had never had someone treat her the way Alba did, since everybody was busy keeping themselves away from her. When Alba talked to her, it was something different. It was... nice.

But everything was just a false sense of friendship. Even if Alba saw them as friends, Davi would never be able to contribute anything to their bond. Alba would have to try and propel everything forth, while she just stood in the sidelines watching, not cheering or booing, just doing nothing. It would create a weird feeling for her, and to prevent all that, she could just tell her they weren't friends.

But Davi had never had one before. A friend. Social relations were unfamiliar territory to her, so she was unsure as to the proper definition of a friend. This could be her chance to keep one around, see what people found so great about it. One day, maybe she could-

 _"Forget it."_

All the way across the complex, Alba fidgeted impatiently, waiting for the doctor to cut her out of the cast. She couldn't sleep for long because she was too sore to relax. The infirmary was quiet with sleeping patients, except for a small screen that was playing a repeat of an old movie. She waited and waited, shifting around uncomfortably.

A doctor walked out, a nurse following right behind him. "We noticed you were awake, so we thought it'd be time to cut you out of that cast. You don't seem to cozy in it."

"Finally."

They wheeled her bed out of the infirmary, and they rolled down the hallway. Soon, they turned a right and into a small room. It looked like the operation room, with all sorts of lethal looking gadgets strewn across a small table. Reaching up, the doctor pulled down a small electric saw.

"Now, do NOT move while we do this. You don't want to cut yourself accidentally, cause that would be more time in the infirmary, and I can sense you don't like it there."

AAlba held her breath as the doctor powered the saw on, and it buzzed to life. She could feel a slight vibration as the saw began to cut through her cast, starting from the shoulder. Few minutes later, the doctor clicked the saw off and placed it off to the side. Gingerly, the doctor and the nurse lifted the front half of the cast off, exposing Alba in nothing but a skimpy hospital gone.

"Don't move. Only move when we tell you to move. We're doing this to make sure everything has healed."

The doctor looked down at her leg, which wasn't at the odd angle it was the day before yesterday, but was a very ugly, bruised shade of purple.

"You shouldn't put any pressure on this leg for a few days, maybe a week. We'll give you crutches to get around on, and maybe a new cast around your leg to prevent it from accidents. Now, slowly sit up."

Carefully, Alba used her arms to raise herself to a sitting position. Using her left arm felt strange after two days of not using it, but after a few seconds, everything seemed back to normal. The doctor ordered her to stand up, then walk around using crutches, then finished it off with a few complex hand motions, such as twiddling her thumbs and interlocking her fingers.

The doctor seemed satisfied with the results. "Before you leave, put this on."

He pulled out a plastic boot-like object and placed it on the table. "We'll help you get this on your leg, and then you can be on your way. It should protect your leg from being seriously injured. Don't take it off until we send you a message telling you that you can."

Alba hopped her way out on crutches, slightly leaning to the left as her new boot weighed her down. Now, her goal was to locate that brand new room of hers, A18. Or, she would've gotten there if Urie didn't somehow intercept her. She had been walking around since she had trouble sleeping. Soon, they walked side by side around the complex, talking.

"Did you find your new room?"

"I did, but it took a while. I'm in B09. Which room are you in?"

"A18."

"I'll come swing by sometime."

"So did you get someone to room with?"

"I did."

"Who?"

"This girl named Lili. Did you get a roommate?"

"I did, but I don't know who they are. I've been stuck in the infirmary the whole time."

"Did you at least get your stuff here?"

"Yeah, I did."

Their watches buzzed with a new announcement.

 _Everyone to the Chamber by 8:00._

Urie looked to Alba, who just started right back at her. In silent agreement, they turned around and began to walk towards the Chamber. When they arrived, it was already packed with other people. There was a murmur as people wondered and attempted to predict what would happen.

Where Caitlyn would normally be, Vi stood in her place, the mic attached. She cleared her throat authoritatively, and the crowd piped down.

"Because she had some things to take care of, Caitlyn told me to present you with what you need to know about Zaun. And that's what today's announcement is: Zaun.

"We all know about the things and ideas that creep around that place. With the Evolution kicking into high gear, we've been getting more cases of people attempting to mechanize themselves. Sometimes it worked, most of the times it just crashed and burned.

"But that's not what matters. The bulk of today's news is about the important figures of Zaun who might participate in the war."

A giant screen appeared on the blank wall behind her, which depicted a picture of a humanoid form that was seemingly made of metal.

" This is the big boss of the Evolution, Viktor. You can probably tell he's made mostly of metal, and yeah, he's got a third hand. As much as I hate to admit it, he's an absolute genius. We're expecting him to be mostly in the strategic department of the war, but you never know whether he could actually fight."

The screen flickered, and the image changed from Viktor to a massive, bulky, purple bulk.

"And here we got Mundo. Disgusting thing. Anyways, he's done a lot of self experimentation, which is why he looks like that. There's some thoughts on whether he's been messed up in the head or not, but that's not important. He'll probably be working either in the frontline or inside a lab to make people become like him. So be prepared just in case you run into anything Mundoesque."

Vi continued to present more key figures. There was Twitch, an overly mutated rat with a crossbow, Jinx, the girl who fired several dangerous guns simultaneously, and there was Singed, a bald guy with a giant tank full of chemicals on his back. Each one looked more menacing and nefarious than the last.

The last person, Warwick, was talked about, and the screen turned black. Vi turned and faced the crowd, arms crossed. "And that's that. Training starts at 10, unless you were injured at the Square, in which case you might be excused from some of the training. So, with all that said, meeting dismissed."

As quickly as they gathered, the members dispersed. Some people returned to their quarters to get some more sleep before training, some decided to stick around and maybe get a meal. Alba decided she has to eat, so Urie went off to go back to her room. Even as she approached the room, she could hear some commotion inside.

When she opened the door, Lili was already sitting on the bottom bunk, a big dog scrambling about in front of her. Lili looked up at Urie, then smiled.

"Is he yours?"

"Yeah. His name is George."

George practically leaped to her when he heard Urie's voice. She wasn't expecting it, so she fell, George barking in joy. Carefully standing up, she noticed a box with some of her things inside. Urie a at down besides Lili, looking through her things.

"When did all this get here?"

"Not too long ago. Some guys actually dropped it off as I came back from the Chamber."

Lili and Urie played with George for the next hour, until their watches buzzed for the second time that day. Urie's indicated she needed to head to Strategy, while Lili's read Weapons Training. Bidding farewells they both went on their ways.

Strategy training wasn't exactly what she expected. Urie's mind was a little fuzzy from all the new information she has to absorb. Staring at that holograph of a battlefield had done no good to her eyes, as they felt a little raw. She entered the Chamber when she heard someone calling for her.

Unsurprisingly, it was Alba, who herself was sitting at a small table. Next to her sat another girl, with pale hair and skin, and looking a little annoyed. Curious as to who she saw, Urie settled into a chair and crossed her arms on the table.

"Hi."

This was directed at the new girl, who seemed even more irritated when talked to. Urie earned a small "Hmph." for her attempts. Alba didn't seem to sense any awkwardness, and began to speak.

"Urie, this is Davi. She's my roommate here! And you know, she was also the person who talked around the hospital."

Urie turned to Davi. "So you wrote the note and stuck it to my face?"

Davi nodded slightly in response, still looking unhappy. Alba finally read the situation, then put her arm around Davi.

"C'mon Davi, say hi. Urie's my friend,and I want my friends to be buddies with one another. Or else we can't all hang out sometime without it being weird."

"..."

"C'mon, just give it a try."

"...Hi."

Smiling widely, Alba seemed satisfied. "Davi's a genius with computers. She does all sorts of things that I never knew could be done." She continued to talk, introducing every last bit of her friends to one another as they sat around quietly. Alba looked content with progressing the "conversation" alone.

Urie's watch buzzed again, but this time, it was solely for her. Davi and Alba's watches remained still. The new message read: _Infirmary, ASAP._

She stood up, and this finally caused Alba to pause her introductions. "What you getting up for?"

"I need to go somewhere, and they want me to be there now."

"Well... I guess I can't really do anything about that. I'll see you around then, I suppose."

"Later."

Urie began to walk briskly down the halls, which were mostly empty at that time. Walking through a door, she entered the infirmary. Compared to just last night, it was very empty, with a patient or two still laying around. She didn't see any doctors or nurses around, so she began to peek around. There was one person sitting in a chair, quietly writing something.

Janna.

The beautiful blonde looked up, her eyes twinkling. She recognized her, then smiled. "Hi, Urie. I told you we'd get something to eat someday."

"Wait...did you call me out here for lunch?"

"I wish, but no. I have a... request from she wanted me to tell you about."

"A request?"

Janna shifted in her chair, seeming a little uncomfortable. "Yes, a request. She wanted me to ask you about the DMS."

Urie froze, a little panicked. "...how does she know?"

"She doesn't know the specifics. Only I do for now. She was going to talk about your condition to you separately, but when I saw the symptoms, I told her I'd do it. I've seen DMS before, when my younger brother used to have it."

"You have a brother?"

"I do. Well, I did. He was in a huge car accident as a kid, and it traumatized him and he was scared I'd taking any risk whatsoever. He became a recluse, and when things got really bad really fast, a doctor recommended that we... put him out of his misery. So we did."

Urie noticed a small glimmer in the corner of Janna's eyes. A single tear. Wiping it off with a finger, Janna coughed then smiled again.

"So, when I saw all the symptoms you showed, I told her I'd take care of it personally. Now, Caitlyn's request is that we get you treated of your little condition as quickly as possible, before the war gets any more intense."

Urie was taken aback, slightly shocked and befuddled at Janna's story and wasn't particularly sure of what to say. She didn't see a valid reason to say no. Urie could cleanse herself of the nightmares and attacks, and it would help her get over her irrational fear.

Urie took in sharp breath. "Alright. I'll do it."

Janna put her hands together, looking happy. "Great! We can get started right away, and as a matter of fact, we can get started now. Let's go inside the mental health area, it'll give us a little more privacy."

They slid the curtains open, then shut it behind them as they entered the mental health area. No patients were inside, as everyone had seemed to grown fine. Janna pointed to a be, and Urie promptly sat on it. Janna placed herself on a bed across from her.

Janna pulled out a small, tightly wrapped cylinder from her pocket and set it down besides her. "So I'm guessing you're wondering how DMS treatment would work."

When she noticed Urie nodding, she continued to speak. "It's a fairly long, arduous process. You see this cylinder? It's got a syringe inside it. The syringe contains a distorted form of a drug known as Shimmer. Shimmer is a drug that floats around Zaun slums, and it causes the user to feel exaggerated emotions when rubbed onto their skin.

"The lab managed to distort the drug in a way to combat it. It'll being out emotions alright, but it'll only bring out fear."

Urie could feel a chill down her spine, as her breathing quickened ever so slightly. Janna put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"It's what's necessary. The way a person defeats DMS is with constant exposure to their fear, and to force them to mentally find solutions against it. We're going to inject this into you. You'll black out, and you're going to have to confront your fears, face to face. And we're going to have to repeat until you finally can overcome it.

"The fears you'll see are going to be mostly from your life. The personal perils cause the subject to react more strongly, and that can help defeat fear more quickly."

Urie was contemplating her choice of treatment again. She had heard of something like this before, exposure therapy. This was taking it to a whole different level, to bring back personal experiences with the fear.

 _"You can't do it even for yourself, can you?"_

 _..._

 _"You'll never overcome, always stuck in a hellish hole of fear."_

"Let's start." Urie quietly whispered. Janna looked proud of her.

"That's my girl." She put her arms around Urie and held her.

Urie laid on the bed, eyes closed. Janna pulled the syringe out, then brought it up to Urie's arm. She felt a small sting as the needle poked into her. As everything began to fade away, Urie heard one last whisper.

"You can do it."

A/N: more sincere apologies for my recent delay in updates. I've been suffering from insomnia, and it has been leaving me feeling very ticked off and tired as of late. I'll do what I can and try to upload once a week now. Before I forget, sending a Gracias to Oceanbourne for the review and critiquing. Chapter 8 might come a touch late since I've decided to take Ocean's advice, which means I will be updating some of my earlier chapters. I'll put it into story description of when which chapters have been updated, so keep an eye out for that ;)


	8. Frozen Dreams

_Urie opened her eyes, met by a faint, white glow. Slowly standing up, she cranked her neck to try and see as much as she could with her blurry vision. All she could see was outlines a gray, encased within a white chamber. Standing up, her vision worsened and a sharp pain shot through her head, forcing her to stumble back down._

 _Looking down at herself, she was decently surprised to find out she was dressed the same way she was when Janna injected the drugs into her._

 _"So the drugs do work," she thought. "At least for now."_

 _Once the pain in her head subsided to a manageable level, she attempted to stand back up again. Her legs felt weak, causing her to stumble once more. Instead of falling, she leaned against a wall this time. As her vision slowly began to return to normalcy, she began to take in her surrounding. She was in what looked like a giant storage unit. There were very many steel shelves (Urie assumed steel), some of them standing empty, some of them full of boxes, tools, all sorts of things._

 _Pushing herself off the wall, Urie stood up straight, legs still slightly shaky. The light fixtures hung precariously off of what looked like very old wire, so the ceiling looked like it was littered with hanging lamp shades._

 _A sense of curiosity began to bloom inside Urie. Of all places the drug could be sent her to, why here? She had never seen this place before, hell, she didn't even know where she was. So what was she supposed to do? The Shimmer was supposed to help out her DMS, not just deliver her to a random storage unit._

 _Until she heard a small noise._

 _The noise was very quiet; the only reason she heard it was because of how eerily silent this place was. The noise sounded like... chatter. Unsure of where the sound originated from, she began to wander in search of said sound._

 _Her footsteps echoed through the storage, an unnerving noise in the emptiness. As she turned a few corners around the shelves, the noise began to grow slightly louder._

 _Urie shivered._

 _One of the hanging lights flickered and creating a sparking static noise before it went out. The noise startled her, causing her to flinch and bump into a shelf behind her, and the shelf swayed gently. The chattering noise kept growing in volume, as she approached the origin._

 _As the noise began to rise in volume continuously, she slowly realized what the noise was. It wasn't chatter._

 _It was a scream._

 _Panicked, Urie began to run, turning corners at breakneck speeds so that she could locate where the screams were coming from. The screams weren't of pain, but rather of need. They were cries for help._

 _A cold wind blew through the storage unit, causing her to shiver once more. There were small icicles hanging off the ceiling and shelves, glimmering in the lights. The screams continued to intensify. So did Urie._

 _"I'm almost there." She quickly thought, her mind blurred by her emotions. "Faster, run faster, damn it."_

 _Then there she was. A steel door stood in front of her, looming over her. There was nothing in interesting about the door, besides the small window in the center. This is where the screams were coming from. Reaching forwards, Urie grabbed the cold handle. But it wouldn't budge._

 _She began shaking the handle madly, but it wouldn't move more than an inch in either direction. The innate coldness of the storage had frozen the handle shut._

 _A dull thumping noise surprised her._

 _It was a fist pounding in the window. There was a man inside, desperately crying for help, looking at Urie. From what she could see, there were several others trapped inside._

 _Overcome by the horror of the situation, she tried to open the door once more, weighing down the handle and putting her weight against it to try and open the door, then free the people. The people within needed her. But the handle still refused to move as the agonizing screams continued to fill her mind._

 _The freezing temperature of the storage became irrelevant to her now; all she felt was the cold handle and the screams of the trapped. Urie continued to try and force the handle to work, but time and time again, the handle merely jerked around in the small space it could, showing no progress. She was overwhelmed by a sense of dread, and she began to shake._

 _"If these people die.. it'll be my fault.. I wouldn't have saved them.. and they'll haunt me too.. like the boy.. the mother.. the bomb victims.. WHY WON'T IT OPEN?"_

 _The screams slowly began to fade away into silence, one voice quieting down after another. Just sheer blackness consumed her vision, and Urie realized what was to happen._

 _"..why do you keep trying when you know you will fail?"_

 _She screamed._

From somewhere else in the complex, Davi heard what sounded like a muffled scream. She blinked, then looked back towards her monitor. The programming was getting close, but there were still kinks that had to be worked out. She took a swift breath, then quickly began typing, stopping abruptly. She scanned the coding she had typed in to make sure everything was right. When everything did seem right, she placed another tally mark on a notepad next to her, then hit the Enter key.

The screen began to flicker as a chain of letters began flying down the screen, incomprehensible to the untrained eye. But Davi understood every last bit of it. Her eyes were shifting like crazy, moving from one end of the monitor to the other at unbelievable speeds. Everything around her didn't matter, for all she cared was for the coding to work out correctly.

There was a small cube frame next to her, and it began to vibrate lightly. The small antenna fixed into the corner began to move every so slightly away from her, pointing east from where she was sitting. The air inside of the cube seemed to vibrate as well, as if it was about to take shape. What looked like a small mound was beginning to form within the cube.

Then the antenna froze with a clunk.

Davi's head turned at the blink of an eye to face the antenna on the cube. The antenna struggled to move again, but in the end, it stopped and fell out of its position, clinking against the cube. It had failed, again.

"Damn it." She muttered. According to the notepad next to her, this was the... 24th time she had failed. 24 times she changed the coding, 24 times it didn't work. So now it was time to change it for the 25th time, and fail again for the 25th time.

Maybe she had set too ambitious of a goal for herself. Maybe she was going after just a dream, not reality. This project was probably more than she could handle with her current ability.

A knock on the door.

Davi stared at the door, unwilling to answer the door. Whoever was behind that door probably wasn't for her, but probably for her absent roommate. People never asked for her, so there was nothing to be different now. But Alba wasn't present, so there was no need to answer the door.

Another knock. She continued to ignore it. If she ignored them long enough, then they would just go away. That's how people worked, if she remembered everything correctly.

And yet there was another knock, but this time, it was accompanied by a voice.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

The incessant knocking was beginning to annoy her. Davi narrowed her eyes, wondering why that person behind the door needed to get in so badly. What was in here for them?

"I have a package for Alba? Is she there..?"

To nobody's surprise, of course it was for Alba. She really didn't want to get up to only end up having to interact with someone. But then, if this was an important package and she ignored it, she could hearing it endlessly from Alba. And from what she could tel, this person wasn't as disgustingly energetic as Alba was. So it would mean less talking and more time to work on her little failure of a project.

Unenthusiastic, Davi stood up to answer the door. Opening the door, she found an auburn girl holding a small box. Was that auburn? It could be orange.

"My roommate wanted me to give this..she came back from somewhere and was too tired to deliver it herself.. So.. yeah."

Looking down at the box, Davi slowly reached up to grab it and began closing the door.

"What's that?"

The girl was looking towards her wall of computers, only one of them which was on at the moment. Davi just looked at her, wishing that she would leave. But the girl seemed to mesmerized by the computers.

"Are those all your computers?" She inquired. So she wasn't planning on leaving until she got her answer, or at least Davi presumed so. So the only way to terminate this interaction was to give her an answer. So she did. By nodding.

"Then what's that?"

Now she was pointing towards the cube. The girl had taken a step into the room without permission, and Davi wasn't exactly sure as of what to do now. This was the first time someone had taken even a mild interest in her work. Was she supposed to feign thankfulness? And if so, how did one do that?

Meanwhile, the girl continued to wander further into the room, still uninvited. Now, she was standing in front of the cube, looking around it. Curious, the girl reached out and lightly grabbed the antenna between her fingers.

"Stop that."

These words flew out of Davi's mouth unexpectedly, and even Davi herself looked surprised when she said it. The girl flinched when she heard her, and backed off a little bit.

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "Won't do it again, I promise."

She just silently stared at the intruder, who seemed unable to recognize that she was unwelcome here. The girl continued to peer around the computers, as if she had never seen them before. Davi began to inch back towards her chair, ready to get back to the project and shoo the girl away.

"Were you working on this when I knocked?" She asked again. "Is that why you couldn't answer right away?"

Davi settled back into her chair again, the girl now standing next to her. As she began erasing bits of the code she believed to be problematic, the girl stood there, looking down to her monitor. She just wouldn't go away.

Clearing her throat, the girl asked another question. "So what exactly is this?"

So that's the game she was going to play. A game of persistence. The girl must have known that if she kept trying and trying, she would eventually let loose an answer from Davi. And now that Davi knew of her game, she also knew that there was no backing out of the corner the girl out her into.

What a diabolical little girl.

Exhaling lightly through her nose, Davi closed her eyes in mental preparation for a human conversation. "It's a cube." There. Now that that was over, the girl would leave now.

But no. Davi was proven girl had more questions. "What's it for?"

Silently shocked at why this girl was being so pesky, Davi quickly conjured up a second answer. "It's for me."

"Oh." The girl replied blankly. She had a pensive look on her face for a second, then asked yet another question. "What purpose does it serve?"

"..."

Why this girl insisted in asking so many damn questions, Davi had no idea. She was busy, and the girl seemed to notice that, but refused to do anything more than acknowledge it. The girl tilted her head slightly out of curiosity.

"It simulates." Davi muttered.

"It what?"

"Simulates."

"..So what made you want to build a simulator?"

At this point, Davi could feel a sense of anger rising up within her, incredulous of how many things this girl needed to know. But at this point, maybe Davi could lie to her. The girl wouldn't know that she was being fed lies. But what would constitute these lies?

The cube was made out of boredom? No, that was partially true.

She saw something like it and wanted to replicate it? No, then the girl would go looking it up to find out there was nothing like this.

Somebody asked her to make one?

Yes. That would work.

"Someone asked me to." Davi said quietly, feeling awkward since the statement was way too long in comparison to her average sentences. But the girl continued to ask more questions.

"Who's this someone?"

So now what? Was Davi to stack lies now? If she was going to say a name, she would have to say someone the girl could either never find or never ask. And one name came to mind.

"Caitlyn."

Caitlyn held too high a position that some random girl couldn't go traipsing into her office to ask her silly questions. Barely anybody shared direct connections to Caitlyn like Davi herself did.

"Caitlyn did? Wow, you must be really good at this... computer stuff?"

"..."

"...you're welcome."

"..."

The girl then took her attention of the computers and the cube, and onto Davi herself now. "How long have you been up?"

"...why?"

"I can tell you've been awake for a while. Your hair is really... messy, no offense there. You've got dark circles, which are really obvious on you, let me just say, and I can also see all those canned coffees on the floor."

Well then. The girl wasn't just curious as hell, but also very observational apparently.

"..."

"Umm... no offense?"

"..."

"..Well...then... good luck on your computer.. thing."

"...yep."

The girl turned away from her began to walk towards the door. And now, Davi could try to get back to work. Right as the girl nearly closed the door, she poked her head inside.

"By the way.."

Davi, spooked, flinched and smacked her keyboard with her hands, a jumble of letters flickering onto the monitor. She took a deep breath, then turn to glare at the girl. "Yes..?"

The girl seemed very unfazed as she continued to speak. "If you're into the computer-esque things.. there's a decently sized section in the Archives about it. If you're curious."

The Archives?

The auburn haired girl quickly said "bye" and closed the door behind her, but Davi continued to remain in the same position, pondering.

The Archives... what was it? Or they? Even with her close connection to Caitlyn and her deep knowledge of the complex, this was the first time she had heard of this place. Several times she hacked into the security cameras out of sheer boredom to listen in on others, but never were the Archives mentioned. And if the many times she eavesdropped in I'm Caitlyn to listen to her discuss everything from battle strategies to rations gave her no clue, she had to guess that this "Archives" was something hidden. And if so, what were they hiding? Was there something behind this whole "war" business that they weren't telling everyone about? And also, how did the girl know anything? And why would she tell Davi of all people? How did she know the contents of the Archives? What -

Davi yawned.

The whole thinking-about-Archives business left her mind very sluggish and dull, and she could feel how raw her eyes were. She closed them for a few second and nearly dozed off.

 _I... have to... work.._

She slinked back towards her computer, trying to read the monitor to make sure everything was correct through half-open eyes. Soon, her eyes slid shut, and her head fell into the table, Davi being fast asleep.

Apologies: I didn't know how to get this message across to the few people who read and followed my stories (this was originally a chapter but I thought it best to make it an A/N).. But I owe everyone a sincere apology. According to my profile, I said I'd return by late February of this year. As we all know, four months later, this was a broken promise. Which makes me a promise-breaker, a liar, a dick, whatever your insult of choice could be. I just got so overwhelmed with all sorts of things, from academic issues to emotional problems. And now, I won't make any promises I can't guarantee I'll keep. I won't say I'll write a chapter every week or something, but instead look at reality. I'll set goals for myself I can keep, and with summer rolling around to free my schedule up a tad bit, I can use this time to return to writing, which once brought me great joy. So, I'm sorry to all you guys that followed my stories by being disappointing.

And now, A/N: First of all, yes, I know this chapter is short, and I'm sorry about that. Second, I said two weeks, and this time I kept my promise :D cut it lose but :D. I felt that this chapter was a bit strange as far as how its constructed.. but I did my very best, I promise 3 I tried to elaborate further into Urie's mental state but even deeper into Davi as a character, which is why I put in the long string of questions at the end to try and outline her personality. I'll try to push the next chapter out within... two and a half weeks. So that's about 18 days. This is published on 6/28 so... mid July sounds about right.


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